April 17, 2007April 17, 2007 by Edward Champion

Virginia Tech Killer Was a Frustrated Writer

Associated Press: “The gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was identified Tuesday as an English major whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school’s counseling service. News reports also said that he may have been taking medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against ‘rich kids,’ ‘debauchery’ and ‘deceitful charlatans’ on campus.”

Okay, so maybe I was wrong about the guy not having an ego. I’m still stunned by the way he carried out this violence with calculated anonymity. I’m also wondering if he would have committed this violence if some brave soul dared to understand his writing. By this standard, Chuck Pahluniuk should have been sent to a counselor years ago.

Also, maybe I’m just a morbid guy, but I find it ironic that the English department chairwoman is named Carolyn Rude.

[UPDATE: Salon’s Joe Eaton has done some reporting and collected student impressions of killer Cho Seung-Hui.]

[UPDATE 2: Sarah has unearthed two of Cho Seung-Hui’s plays. Sample dialogue: “What are you, a Catholic priest! I will not be molested by an aging balding overweight pedophilic stepdad named Dick! Get your hands off me you sicko! Damn you, you Catholic priest. Just stop it, Michael Jackson. Let me guess, you have a pet named Dick in Neverland ranch and you want me to go with you to pet him, right?”]

April 17, 2007April 17, 2007 by Edward Champion

Roundup

I think “quirky leftist novelist” is a poor summation of Vonnegut’s achievements. I’ve seen better usage of adjectives on OKCupid. (And, apparently, this isn’t the only egregious recontextualizing.)
Yann Martel is starting a book club, hoping that the Prime Minister will bite. Martel received a “mostly indifferent” reception from the House of Commons when he appeared to champion funding for the Canada Council of Arts. Then again, perhaps the suits were grumbling about extending $170 million in funding for those damn Bohemians who dared to sully the halls of Ottawa. (And compare this with the NEA’s $139.4 million, a budgetary boost that is one good thing you can apply to the Bush administration, although it’s not nearly enough.)
Michael Ondaatje lists his five most important books.
Who knew that Pleasanton had a poet laureate? Presumably, we’ll be seeing more sestinas for strip malls and 7-11s.
AM New York: “The critical savagery could be written off as a prudish reaction to a book that is more than a tad pornographic. Or it could be the result of Mosley’s own missteps — a dirty book, after all, is a very delicate proposition, and not always easy to take seriously.” Or it could be that the United States needs a Bad Sex Award and this is the only way the literary community can take badly written sex scenes to task.
Joyce Carol Oates on one of my favorite childhood authors, Roald Dahl.
John Freeman speaks! (via Critical Mass)
Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s excellent novel, The Wizard of the Crow, has won a California Book Award. (via Mark)
There’s now a Dickens theme park about to open up in Kent. What I like best about this park is the unique day care facility. You can drop your kids off for the day, where numerous “Fagins” will ensure that your kid is locked in a room and fed nothing but gruel. There, your child will learn the ways of the streets, sneaking out to pick the pockets of unsuspecting tourists and engaging in a progressive education with a teenage instructor named Nancy. This is the kind of approach that instills character in today’s youth. And I must salute these developers for not stooping to cheap Disney-style theatrics, recreating every facet of Dickens without fear of public rebuke. (via Jenny D)
Jason Silverman on the “sci fi” label. (via Locus)
Lionel Shriver on Rupert Thomson. (via Rarely Likable)
BLCKDGRD has an interesting entry comparing the n+1/litblogs war with Don Imus. (via Dan Green)
In celebration of National Poetry Month, the good Prof Fury digs up a Jack Butler poem.
The Virginia Tech massacre hits the speculative fiction community.
There are thirty-two cameras within 200 yards of Orwell’s former home in London. (via Jeff)
Shakespeare’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (via Silliman)
Ed Norton as Bruce Banner? This does not augur well. (via My Nemesis)
Sam Raimi helming The Hobbit? Now, that can work. (via Ghost in the Machine)
Here in San Francisco, MUNI has certainly been sucking. Last night, I waited forty-five minutes for my bus and then gave up and took the N Judah home. The mornings have been almost as bad. Charlie Anders outlines some probable causes. But this is inexcusable.
Romance enthusiasts vs. Yale students. Get the popcorn.
Henry Kisor has a novel in the works.
Nicki Leone’s home library. I particularly like the bookshelves in the drum room. (via Pages Turned)
Why Richard Flanagan wrote The Unknown Terrorist. (via Happy Antipodean)
Callie tries to make sense of the Jodi Picoult madness.
And if I see a flight attendant photo better than this one this year, I’ll certainly be surprised.

April 17, 2007April 17, 2007 by Edward Champion

Why I Can’t Get to Your Book

Since there’s been an upsurge in author email requests in the past few weeks and since I’m being pilloried by a few of them for having the temerity to respond, pointing out that I’m so sorry and that quite honestly I can’t devote my limited time to their vanity press whatsit or the strange package with the T-shirt or what not, let the above image stand as visual evidence.

All of the books in my hall have come in during the past three months. And that’s after purging.

I’ve read 42 books in 2007 so far. I’m sorry. I’m doing the best I can.

April 17, 2007 by Edward Champion

Vollmann Club Update

It’s been far too long, but I’ve updated the Vollmann Club site to reflect Mr. Vollmann’s current output (and I’ve also added a few additional links). Again, if you are a blogger who has (a) been to a Vollmann reading and (b) written about Vollmann, then please let me know. You’re qualified for entry into the Vollmann Club!

Although we’ve assigned specific Vollmann books to certain bloggers, we don’t mind multiple people covering it. We still need entries for a number of Vollmann volumes. At the very least, I’m hoping to fill in a few gaps before year’s end.

Next up: the Jack Butler Club?

April 16, 2007 by Edward Champion

Cinematic Dreck

Wikipedia’s Worst Films Ever. (via Papa Rory)

Films I’d include: Monsignor (which I caught on a plane last year and which absolutely baffled me in its badness), Urban Legend (the only film that I have walked out on in fury, not owing to audience conditions, during the past ten years), Buz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (the worst Shakespearean adaptation ever made), Hook (the most sentimental of all Spielberg movies), Toys, The Story of Us, Eye of the Beholder (the incomprehensible 1999 Ashley Judd film), and anything from Uwe Boll.

Reluctant Habits

a cultural forum in ever-shifting standing

Month / April 2007

Virginia Tech Killer Was a Frustrated Writer

Roundup

Why I Can’t Get to Your Book

Vollmann Club Update

Cinematic Dreck