I haven’t yet had the opportunity to determine what the Vollmann fan base is like here in New York. (Regrettably, most of the Vollmann enthusiasts I knew were back in California. But don’t worry. I’ve only been here one month and I will almost certainly create a few converts.)
But for those who might be interested, the good folks at the Whitney have informed me that Vollmann will be there next week, in a conversation with photographer Richard Drew. The two will address “where images of brutality meet the limits of representation.” All this is tied in with a two-part series pertaining to the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love. It all goes down on Thursday, July 12, 2007, at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $8; students and senior citizens get in for $6.
Hi,
Whatever Vollmann may have done, he’s no longer doing it. I saw Vollmann read in Seattle last year. He was the most artless and dull person I had ever seen read.
And he looks like a right-wing extremist.
Great observations. They say a lot about his writing.
If you are an ADD-afflicted reader uninterested in poverty, history, economics, and the often forgotten regular people in history (just some of what Vollmann specializes in), then I can see how your lack of interest or imagination might lead you to dismiss Vollmann as “artless and dull.”
So you do agree that he’s boring?