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This crisis is reminding millions about capitalism’s inherent instability, its historic failure for centuries to prevent the recurrence of downturns, and how poorly, unjustly, and cruelly it typically “manages” them.
“I don't believe you. You're a liar. Play it fucking loud!”
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“Though Marcus' essay extends over 13 pages of small text, at its core is a very simple premise: Contemporary American fiction has lost its innovative edge and its interest in language as art, and Jonathan Franzen is largely, if not exclusively, to blame.”
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“Novels are narratives to be in. To live in. To exist in. Not primarily forms to jump into and get to the end of. It’s a substance that the great big novel becomes…which invites you to be in it, not necessarily to leave it. To move around in it. To move laterally.”
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“Forty minutes later, I leaned back in my chair, and looked at the thousand or so pages of manuscript towering on my desk. It hit me. Holy cow. This author had total control over this book. Total. And it was one of seven. One. Of. Seven.”
― William T. Vollmann: A Critical Companion
― William T. Vollmann: A Critical Companion
“While the two words often arrive sutured together, I think it worthwhile to breathe some space between them, so that one might see “brutal honesty” not as a more forceful version of honesty itself, but as one possible use of honesty. One that doesn’t necessarily lay truth barer by dint of force, but that actually overlays something on top of it—something that can get in its way. That something is cruelty.”
― The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning
― The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning
Goodreads Librarians Group
— 304307 members
— last activity 0 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
William T Vollmann Central
— 271 members
— last activity Dec 14, 2025 04:28AM
This corner of goodreads shall serve the needs of rainbow readers of Mr Vollmann's indulgent body of work. We welcome the veteran and the fresh flesh ...more
Women and Men
— 227 members
— last activity Nov 07, 2025 04:09AM
Women and Men began as a reading group for Joseph McElroy's masterpiece. It has developed into All Things McElroy. We have chapter threads for discuss ...more
Brain Pain
— 1248 members
— last activity Oct 10, 2023 09:29AM
NOTE: This group is intermittently active, but you are welcome to revive past discussions if you're currently reading any of those books. We read ch ...more
DFW - The Broom of the System (group read)
— 22 members
— last activity Dec 26, 2011 03:08PM
We will be reading David Foster Wallace's "The Broom of the System," starting October 1, 2011. Here's the reading schedule: https://docs.google.com/sp ...more
Jack’s 2025 Year in Books
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