sep 21
2008
AO on DF
A.O. Scott on D.F.W. in N.Y.T. "Again and again, he returned to a basic, perhaps the basic, philosophical question facing anyone with a blank screen and a story to tell. What am I going to say? How am I going to say it?"
1 comment
that must've been hard to write. i wonder if he felt DFW was looking over his shoulder.
the editors must've recruited him for this after kakutani's piece fell flat due to her lack of an emotional connection to his work.
i am not sure scott nails it when he says "Again and again, he returned to a basic, perhaps the basic, philosophical question facing anyone with a blank screen and a story to tell." it's true that DFW spent some time on this, but wasn't his writing about an issue even more fundamental than that, i.e., who am i, and what am i doing here? for scott to focus on the meta-writing makes DFW seem more aloof than he really was. if anything, he was trying to get past the meta so he could focus on the more important issues. (cf. the commencement speech)
in any case, at least this appraisal balances the sterility of kakutani's more intellectual effort.
posted by adm at 5:10 PM on September 21, 2008 
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