The Very Last Interview by David Shields

Author:David Shields [Shields, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781681376424
Publisher: New York Review Books
Published: 2021-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

Envy

It is not enough that I succeed; others must fail.

—La Rochefoucauld

Was Gayl Jones a grad student at Brown when you were an undergrad?

Did you ever meet her?

I wonder what happened to her; any clue? She was such a gifted writer.

Hawkes would always talk about Tournier and Yourcenar—did either ever do much for you?

Only the very ending of The Ogre?

I found his later books almost completely unconvincing because of the form they took. Do you think that’s a legitimate criticism?

Walter Kirn says that some books are so bad they’re good (we all know these), but also some are so good they’re bad. They leave no room for the reader to breathe. If you agree with this formulation (and from your body language, you seem to be in vehement agreement), what are some examples for you of the latter?

So, too, nearly every work of soi-disant autofiction of the last decade?

Who are some of the most famous writers you know?

How awkward is it for you when they become more well known than you are?

Does the relationship fizzle out due to asymmetrical warfare?

Is that painful?

I’m not trying to bum you out—honestly just trying to pull back the proscenium curtain a little, if I may?

Bret Ellis?

Claudia Rankine?

Michael Cunningham?

Anyone else you used to know well?

Lorrie Moore?

Jonathan Lethem?

Maggie Nelson?

Cormac McCarthy—really? That’s amazing.

These people still reply to your emails?

For example, Marilynne Robinson—one of my favorite writers. Obama’s, too, for that matter. You say she writes Geritol prose. But isn’t that just one (very envious) person’s ill-considered opinion?

Do you still write blurbs for other writers?

Didn’t you once try to put a stop to that practice for your-self?

How long did that last?

To me, the rule is that if you’re going to adopt that policy, you can’t then turn around and ask other people for quotes, don’t you think?

What are you reading during all this downtime we now have?

Anything really blowing you out of the water right now?

Erika Menninger’s first book? Haven’t heard of it.

Do you read as a writer?

Do you know “Host,” that essay Wallace wrote about a conservative talk show host?

“Because one can almost feel it: what a bleak and merciless world this host lives in—believes, nay, knows for an absolute fact he lives in. I’ll take doubt.” Uggh. So good, isn’t it?

Have you ever been able to account for the curious elation you felt when you heard he had committed suicide?

Same when you heard about Kurt Cobain?

Or read about Plath, Sexton, Berryman, Hart Crane?

What is that all about?

I know you and Jonathan Raban are friendly. Any flareups?

Quibbles?

Quarrels?

Anything?

All sweetness and light?

David Milch was your teacher before he went on to write Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Deadwood, etc. Would you say he had a huge influence on you?

Conventional in what sense?

So what?

Oh—“contentious,” then, in what sense?

Dr. Chekhov’s notion that the writer’s role wasn’t to prescribe but to diagnose: You find that a useful distinction?

All these fractal, gap-filled “texts” you write, read, teach, and champion—my sense is you’re hoping to expand the definition of what might even be considered a

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