7 ms·
This is a fantastic interview with Padgett Powell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padgett_Powell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padgett_Powell), a writer of the S
by Jun8 2y ago
This is a fantastic interview with Padgett Powell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padgett_Powell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padgett_Powell), a writer of the Southern tradition. IMO, the two things that make it great ar how candid and fluid Powell's answers are and the hilariously Newspeak of the interviewer's questions.
Powell was Don Barthelme's student, his analysis of Barthelme's main thrust here is worth the read alone. If you want to dig deeper on this point, here's another interview with him: https://www.vice.com/en/article/vdxyd8/padgett-powell-is-american-letters-oddest-elder-statesman-1005 https://www.vice.com/en/article/vdxyd8/padgett-powell-is-ame...
Flann O'Brian, mentioned briefly by Powell is an interesting character, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flann_O'Brien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flann_O'Brien.
- ailun 2y agoIt's not really "Newspeak" at all; if anything, it's the opposite. Newspeak had limited vocabulary. The interviewer is using a bunch of ten-dollar words. Still, interesting interview! I might read some Padgett Powell at some point because of this.
- kleiba 2y agoThe little info box about the interviewer at the end of the article tells you all you need to know.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoYou got something against Canadians?
- wmil 2y agoNo one has more issues with Toronto writers who claim to be part of the "Canadian literary underground" than other Canadians.
- atuladhar 2y agoHmm, what is it that I needed to know? And what does the info box tell me? As another simpleton in this world, I did not understand this comment. > Jean Marc Ah-Sen is the author of Grand Menteur, In the Beggarly Style of Imitation, and Kilworthy Tanner. He lives in Toronto.
- galaxyLogic 2y ago"The little info box about the interviewer at the end of the article tells you all you need to know." That is a very round-about way of saying something negative about this article. Why not say straight out what you think is wrong with it? Why not? Maybe because it is easier for some people to agree with you when you don't present any actual facts. What does that little info-box say? And why do you think that is ALL we need to know?
- culi 2y agoI think the implication is that this interview is more about the interviewer than about the interviewee. Not sure I agree. Infoboxes about the author of an article are a common practice. I see them even on recipe websites
- Mtinie 2y agoYour comment tells me all I need to know about you. Obtuse commentary is worthless for discussion.
- HillRat 2y agoIt's an interesting contrast, because Ah-Sen is an experimental formalist, and his questions progress from that point of view, whereas Powell is (hilariously) ... not. (As this feels like a Q&A-by-email with all the questions submitted en bloc, Ah-Sen probably didn't get a chance to adapt his questions, and their theoretical foundation, to Powell's responses, lending to the surrealistic air.)
- kd5bjo 2y agoIt also might be worth noting that both pull quotes are things that Ah-Sen said in the questions, instead of things that Powell said in response. Some interviewers aim to help to tell their subjects’ stories, but others are looking for a reason to hear themselves speak. This feels like the latter case.
- Jtsummers 2y ago> It also might be worth noting that both pull quotes are things that Ah-Sen said in the questions, instead of things that Powell said in response. One is from Powell, the other from Ah-Sen. >> The attractive characteristic of a young narrator is the absurdity of it and the license of it. - Powell >> The destiny of all books is to become unmoored from the time which birthed them. - Ah-Sen
- pictureofabear 2y agoAlso, shouldn't it be "berthed" not birthed?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Ar-Curunir 2y agoEr why would that be the case. To be unmoored is to be detached from something. So the quote is saying that the destiny of every book is to be detached and read outside the context in which it was written (birthed).
- phren0logy 2y agoI absolutely love this! As you have noted, both the ability and the courage to speak plainly have made it a lost art.
- Simon_ORourke 2y agoFlann O'Brian's novel about a novel "At swim two birds" has been one of my favorite yearly re-reads, I must take it down off the shelf again this weekend!
- glassconclusion 2y agoI really like the short story Typical. It is one of my favorite short stories.
- Jun8 2y agoSo do I! In fact I searched for Powell this morning, after lazily taking down my 1990 Best American Short Stories collection, which was where I first encountered “Typical” and his unique voice.
- simplyluke 2y agoI found this interview almost unreadable, but I'm also quite sure I'm not the target audience for it despite being a pretty avid reader.
- sdwr 2y agoI find the author almost unlikeable! He acts like an actual author - under-acknowledged, cloyingly clever, desperate for attention instead of an author fantasy - cool, knowledgeable, enmeshed in the subject to the point of unselfconsciousness
- a_random_canuck 2y agoI found the interviewer comes across as incredibly pretentious. I can’t stand this style of writing, he is trying way too hard.
- Nition 2y agoIt all kind of reaches an apotheosis when the interviewer makes the second big red pull quote one from their questions, instead of one from the author's answers. I couldn't believe it, I had to double check!
- et1337 2y agoWow that’s incredible. What a sentence too. Slides right through your brain without any meaning getting caught on it.
- gadders 2y agoI think they're both trying to show how smart they are - the interviewer in a big-brain intellectual fashion, and the author in an arch way to show what a rebel he is.
- blackmesaind 2y agoDespite Powell's almost cringe worthy rage against "liberal racism", at least his responses had force of personality behind them. The interviewer's questions show a distinct lack of awareness. An interview only works if you're setting the stage for the interviewee, not for yourself.
- gadders 2y ago>>An interview only works if you're setting the stage for the interviewee, not for yourself. Yeah, unless the interviewer is a big name in their own right (so not in this case), your aim is to let the subject shine and fade into the background. The quality of your questions is only judged by what answers they elicit.
- blackmesaind 2y agoUnless it's investigative in nature, even the best interviewers still don't take the spotlight. Larry King, on his interview technique, said "The key of interviewing is listening. I hate interviewers who come with a long list of prepared questions, because they're going to depend on going from the fourth question to the fifth question without listening to the answer" Though I can't say I blame the interviewer. If I spent that much time flipping through a thesaurus crafting my questions, I wouldn't want to divert from them either.
- gadders 2y agoYeah, but I assumed that the interview was done via email. I could be wrong.
- 2y ago
- nkurz 2y agoSince it's a central to the interview and not well explained, here's a link to Barthelme's short story "Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby": https://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/gone.too.far https://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/gone.too.far It's very short, and very worth reading.