4 ms·

This is true of basically all literary journalism. How do so many interesting things happen to these people that they can write about it? Easy, they make it up.

This is true of basically all literary journalism. How do so many interesting things happen to these people that they can write about it? Easy, they make it up. David Foster Wallace is another example, said as someone who enjoys his essays. And David Sedaris, not that he really styles himself as a journalist.

jackstraw14 4y ago
Which stuff in DFW's essays did he make up?
- woodruffw 4y ago
  This is from memory, but ISTR people claiming that Wallace's characterizations in essays like "Shipping Out" are mostly fictionalized for (successful!) literary value. Edit: Found it: Franzen thinks that his dialogues were implausible[1]. [1]: https://www.theawl.com/2011/10/a-supposedly-true-thing-jonathan-franzen-said-about-david-foster-wallace/#.t1qt4lyho https://www.theawl.com/2011/10/a-supposedly-true-thing-jonat...
EamonnMR 4y ago
The article digging into Sedaris was especially silly since it's clear that he's a comic (and a great one at that) and the fact that he may have taken NPR for a ride just makes him funnier.
- dingusdew 4y ago
  [dead]
- iamthepieman 4y ago
  Which article is this?
  - EamonnMR 4y ago
    Embarrassingly I can't find it now. It was styled as am expose that proved that elements of Santaland diaries were untrue.
- shellothere 4y ago
  His wild and delightful caricatures are often so absurd it’s comical to imagine someone reviewing each under a microscope seeking evidence of exaggeration or falsehood… that’s sort of the point!
giardia 4y ago
Steinbeck too (Travels With Charley).
rcme 4y ago
DFW’s essays are more about his personal insights into the subject rather than the subject itself. I’m sure not everything written is 100% word-for-word accurate, but I don’t get the impression he embellishes too much because he doesn’t have to. The subjects of his essays are quite mundane: a mediocre cruse, a middling tennis player, 4H, etc.
- moioci 4y ago
  > a middling tennis player... If you're referring to the 2006 NYT piece on Roger Federer, I think you're not supporting the "quite mundane" characterization https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20federer.html?unlocked_article_code=iF0rsrBJyMT1M1OSrCCxn8Ms9LFcXOkJKZp1rvuzAl_T_c2eL6JPbm5UTha_fWOTO-hB-HonxXL5a6OC9s82kQady9bcB6-B4CvYo9W1ZEIyrBm-lafxb9QlAeUkL6AYhDyFjp9WTCKbvDPX4scnduUv2gOOzUHCWqmt-jJHLG4E-YfwgyD4BCcvpvNGTn-L8HCPuaZRKAHWHNJrJ0uO_aCvCVOyghzoWiFytUqGuv3If91RI0jkJmTqC-HzBgx5nyAkZ5QjY8fJ-6b6JJYJ7GR6WK6rpX7QTDddfH1qpcPw3Z2Gadk_eXY7k_mMKw65GubaNBl3yyBcpNDO2i9l&smid=share-url https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20fed...
  - rcme 4y ago
    I was talking about the essay "Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness" Michael Joyce's highest ranking was 64.
    - Beldin 4y ago
      64 in what? 64th worldwide is obviously not a middling player; 64th of his local club probably falls shy of that lofty moniker. Perhaps you meant "middling professional player"? Because I don't think there's enough money to be made to pay for expenses and support you year-round if you do not crack the top-100.
      - rcme 4y ago
        You should read the essay, I think you’d like it. Your comment strikes the heart of the matter. Yes, Michael Joyce was the 64th best in the world. He’s reached a level of tennis that almost every other player in the world can only dream of. Joyce’s ability to play tennis was rivaled only by a small handful of people in the entire world. And yet… not many will ever hear of Michael Joyce. He won’t be able to earn a sustainable wage playing the game. Ultimately, he might be even worse off than the 64th best player at a local club. So what’s the point? Why does Joyce do it?
geepound 4y ago
>This is true of basically all literary journalism. How do so many interesting things happen to these people that they can write about it? Easy, they make it up. It is not all made up. >“There is just a very shallow truth in facts,” he told me. “Otherwise, the phone directory would be the Book of Books.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/24/the-ecstatic-truth https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/24/the-ecstatic-t...
everybodyknows 4y ago
Hunter S. Thompson, Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail. As he put it in a later television interview: "There was a rumor in Philadelphia about Ed Muskie being addicted to ibogaine. I know, I started it."
- boppo1 4y ago
  Yeah, that book is 75% fiction, at least. But it's a fun read.

jackstraw14 4y ago

Which stuff in DFW's essays did he make up?

woodruffw 4y ago
This is from memory, but ISTR people claiming that Wallace's characterizations in essays like "Shipping Out" are mostly fictionalized for (successful!) literary value. Edit: Found it: Franzen thinks that his dialogues were implausible[1]. [1]: https://www.theawl.com/2011/10/a-supposedly-true-thing-jonathan-franzen-said-about-david-foster-wallace/#.t1qt4lyho https://www.theawl.com/2011/10/a-supposedly-true-thing-jonat...

EamonnMR 4y ago

The article digging into Sedaris was especially silly since it's clear that he's a comic (and a great one at that) and the fact that he may have taken NPR for a ride just makes him funnier.

dingusdew 4y ago
[dead]
iamthepieman 4y ago
Which article is this?
- EamonnMR 4y ago
  Embarrassingly I can't find it now. It was styled as am expose that proved that elements of Santaland diaries were untrue.
shellothere 4y ago
His wild and delightful caricatures are often so absurd it’s comical to imagine someone reviewing each under a microscope seeking evidence of exaggeration or falsehood… that’s sort of the point!

giardia 4y ago

Steinbeck too (Travels With Charley).

rcme 4y ago

DFW’s essays are more about his personal insights into the subject rather than the subject itself. I’m sure not everything written is 100% word-for-word accurate, but I don’t get the impression he embellishes too much because he doesn’t have to. The subjects of his essays are quite mundane: a mediocre cruse, a middling tennis player, 4H, etc.

moioci 4y ago
> a middling tennis player... If you're referring to the 2006 NYT piece on Roger Federer, I think you're not supporting the "quite mundane" characterization https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20federer.html?unlocked_article_code=iF0rsrBJyMT1M1OSrCCxn8Ms9LFcXOkJKZp1rvuzAl_T_c2eL6JPbm5UTha_fWOTO-hB-HonxXL5a6OC9s82kQady9bcB6-B4CvYo9W1ZEIyrBm-lafxb9QlAeUkL6AYhDyFjp9WTCKbvDPX4scnduUv2gOOzUHCWqmt-jJHLG4E-YfwgyD4BCcvpvNGTn-L8HCPuaZRKAHWHNJrJ0uO_aCvCVOyghzoWiFytUqGuv3If91RI0jkJmTqC-HzBgx5nyAkZ5QjY8fJ-6b6JJYJ7GR6WK6rpX7QTDddfH1qpcPw3Z2Gadk_eXY7k_mMKw65GubaNBl3yyBcpNDO2i9l&smid=share-url https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20fed...
- rcme 4y ago
  I was talking about the essay "Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness" Michael Joyce's highest ranking was 64.
  - Beldin 4y ago
    64 in what? 64th worldwide is obviously not a middling player; 64th of his local club probably falls shy of that lofty moniker. Perhaps you meant "middling professional player"? Because I don't think there's enough money to be made to pay for expenses and support you year-round if you do not crack the top-100.
    - rcme 4y ago
      You should read the essay, I think you’d like it. Your comment strikes the heart of the matter. Yes, Michael Joyce was the 64th best in the world. He’s reached a level of tennis that almost every other player in the world can only dream of. Joyce’s ability to play tennis was rivaled only by a small handful of people in the entire world. And yet… not many will ever hear of Michael Joyce. He won’t be able to earn a sustainable wage playing the game. Ultimately, he might be even worse off than the 64th best player at a local club. So what’s the point? Why does Joyce do it?

geepound 4y ago

>This is true of basically all literary journalism. How do so many interesting things happen to these people that they can write about it? Easy, they make it up. It is not all made up. >“There is just a very shallow truth in facts,” he told me. “Otherwise, the phone directory would be the Book of Books.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/24/the-ecstatic-truth https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/24/the-ecstatic-t...

everybodyknows 4y ago

Hunter S. Thompson, Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail. As he put it in a later television interview: "There was a rumor in Philadelphia about Ed Muskie being addicted to ibogaine. I know, I started it."

boppo1 4y ago
Yeah, that book is 75% fiction, at least. But it's a fun read.