Mark Z. Danielewski (BSS #79)

Mark Z. Danielewski is most recently the author of Only Revolutions.

Play

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Horrified by “misprinted” books.

Author: Mark Z. Danielewski

Subjects Discussed: The origins of Only Revolutions, Hailey’s appearance in House of Leaves, the use of obscure uncanonized words in Only Revolutions (and their various origins), hip-hop, Gene Wolfe, Anthony Burgess, teenagers and vocabulary, how structure affects wordplay, skateboards, the influence of movies, the dots on the right-hand corner, on whether Danielewski is an experimental writer, fonts and typography, leaving room for ambiguity in a taut structure, the urgency in getting Only Revolutions finalized, the leftwrist twist, how the circular symbol came about, and immortality and maturity.

[PLEASE NOTE: The most enthusiastic answer from an author in Bat Segundo history occurs at 32:49.]

EXCERPT FROM SHOW:

Danielewski: I don’t think I’m an experimental writer. I don’t really know what that means, in fact, an experimental writer. For me, it’s always an exploration. I just can’t help but think, you know, when you experiment, you’re kind of tinkering. And this is such a prolonged investigation. You don’t tinker for six years. It’s a long quest to see where something goes. And the thing I really stand by is that I’ve fulfilled the qualities of Sam and Hailey’s journey. Now whether it’s a success or not, it’s clear what it is. It’s not halfly done. It’s wholly, spinningly done. You can either say, I don’t care for it. Or you can recognize, wow, if we go, if we follow this path to its — maybe not its conclusion, but as a long way, this is kind of where it ends up going. And these are the things you get out of it. And these are things you don’t get out of it. And that creates a valid type of conversation.

5 Responses to “Mark Z. Danielewski (BSS #79)”

  • Morning considered at pinkyspaperhaus says:

    [...] How about that Mark Z. Danielweski on the Bat Segundo Show? Wish I could listen to it on a transistor radio. [...]

  • Anne Fernald says:

    Ok. I still think he’s pretentious. It’s silly to start to say “Yale” and then back track and say “in college.”

    But.

    His “Asolutely. Absolutely…” was worth the wait. It is, indeed, the most enthusiastic answer from an author….

    Thanks, Ed.

  • Amirul B Ruslan says:

    Interesting. A lot of insight from the author of possibly the strangest book in 2006. A personal favorite of mine, too.

  • decap says:

    wow. he’s awful. with his ‘if you wills’ and his ‘certainly’ this and ‘actually’ that , danielewski sounds utterly affected and phony. like a teenage debate kid. ‘house of leaves’ was good, his second book was trash. but either way he should stick to writing. this writer should NOT do interviews because he comes off as a self-absorbed fatuous ass. too tedious. and the gushing interviewer should maybe try to prune some of those ‘sort ofs’ and other verbal tics if he’s serious about talking for a living. they spend ten minutes covering teenage vernacular and trying to intellectualize this tired little ‘new’ strategy. give me a fucking break. these guys should be in advertising where the dead people work.

  • Knossos says:

    To warrant hate mail you have to be doing something right. And, you have to care for him a little to spend that amount of time typing out your displeasure.

    Also, of course he’s pretentious. Linguistic accomplishments of his calibur can only directly invite a “Hell yeah, I’m just that incredible” attitude… the man drives a Prius to boot. Incredible books, however smug.

    Fuck Prii.

Leave a Reply

To subscribe/unsubscribe to The Bat Segundo Show newsletter and to receive email updates when we put up new shows, go here.
If you like The Bat Segundo Show, your donations to help keep the joint running are greatly appreciated.



This text will be replaced


Please direct all inquires concerning booking guests, advertising, messages to Mr. Segundo, and the like to Edward Champion. Please note that while we return all email (eventually), because of the unique and heavily researched nature of these interviews, it is impossible to interview everybody. Although we certainly do our best.

You can also send books, materials, fan mail, and other assorted materials to:

Edward Champion
The Bat Segundo Show
315 Flatbush Ave., #231
Brooklyn, NY 11217


portrait

The above portrait was taken sometime in 2006, when someone made the mistake of inviting Bat Segundo to a party. Since then, his public appearances have been very rare. But he does sometimes come out of his Motel 6 room.


Link here and plug the URL into your feed-reader of choice or subscribe through iTunes


Mr. Segundo has a MySpace page and does not quite understand it.


Mr. Segundo also has a Facebook page and understands this only slightly better.

You can also join the Bat Segundo Facebook group!

Yahoo! Picks

"a dazzling array of interviews"
-- Yahoo! Picks

"It was great to hear one of my favorite writers talk honestly about his work."
-- Metafilter

"This cat does EXTENSIVE research! I mean, he puts in the kind of research that like James Lipton would have his crew do on Inside the Actor's Studio."
-- Cool as Hell Theatre

"a great reader and a tough guy"
-- T.C. Boyle

"the world's best literary podcast" -- Largehearted Boy

"I was interviewed by a very bright and engaging fellow."
-- Jonathan Ames

"Wow, do I tell him things I wouldn't expect to say in an interview. He's that good. It's the closest I've come to being on Inside the Actors Studio."
-- Pamela Ribon

"You're very observant. You read it very closely."
-- Ursula Hegi

"Very seldom do I get to say all these things, because I'm not asked about them. And I appreciate your asking."
-- James Lipton

"He’s a funny smart guy and asked a lot of good questions."
-- Alison Bechdel

"Your questions are much too profound for me."
-- Katha Pollitt

"a patriot" -- Naomi Wolf

"one of the great literary interviewers of our time — listen for how often his subjects are struck by his discovery of an unknown-to-them pattern of imagery or tic of diction."
-- Professor Fury

"I'm absolutely laughing my ass off."
-- Gina Frangello

"manages to blend silly and insightful quite artfully"
-- Linda Richards

"NPR, eat your heart out"
-- Eliza Tucker

"always entertaining"
-- Mark Sarvas

"That should have been my first warning. When you first said, I’ll give you a softball question, like, there’s going to be a hardball? But what?"
-- Danica McKellar

"I know who you are! I know exactly what you do!"
-- a publicist who shall remain unnamed

"deft, funny and wildly unique"
-- George Kelly

"I giggled listening to the Bat Segundo podcast."
-- The Mongrel

"the literary world's best podcast"
-- Pinky's Paperhaus

"While I had listened to several of the Bat's 'casts over the last year, it is only when you consume one (sometimes two) a day over the course of a week, that you really begin to get the wow factor of all the Bat has time to do. I mean, the intros alone are sort of other-worldly."
-- Callie Miller

"Bat Segundo even kissed me!"
-- Matt Cheney

"Bat Segundo survives the soup!" -- Miss Snark

"I'm a Bat Segundo fan from the early days."
-- Bud Parr

"Better than radio, it's Internet radio."
-- Ron Hogan

"Bat Segundo is clearly a nutcase. I would advise anyone against paying him any credence."
-- Edward Champion

"a boiling cauldron of podcasts" -- Scott McKenzie

"what could quite possibly be the coolest radio show in the history of ever"
-- Shiva Spacetech

"I cannot believe she would question the importance of the Bat Segundo show!" -- Jean

"affably incessant" -- Brian Crane

"doesn't resort to wine-review vocabulary"
-- Guide to Midwestern Culture

"among the snarkiest characters in the literary blogosphere"
-- The Written Nerd

"really a Matt Segundo who is vamping it up with a vampire accent" -- boku

"an interweb sideshow of great distinction and absolutely spiffing podcasts"
-- The Bedside Crow

"essential listening"
-- The Bibliophile

"I have been listening nonstop to Bat Segundo"
-- Try Harder

"a terrific literary podcast that boasts some absolutely stellar author interviews"
-- Corey Redekop

"Stay away from The Bat Segundo Show!"
-- Dave White

Archives

Meta