canks it's a good zing but really it's not a question of virtuosity so much as how much he actually gives a fuck about this student paper, which when you're staring at a pile of 30 of these at 4am or whatever it's pretty easy to be like "lol u pompous B+" but to the best of my knowledge he never did. like, he really engaged like this with every student paper, even the dum ones, and tried to find what was worth developing and actually, you know, guide his students toward the slightly more thoughtful, better-writing versions of themselves he could see. plus: Style Fairy.
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Thursday, 11 March 2010 19:50 (fourteen years ago) link
i didn't even realise that was intended as a zing, although if i'd bothered to have checked the username i would, i guess
― thomp, Thursday, 11 March 2010 20:01 (fourteen years ago) link
it wasnt really a zing i just think its funny that people are fawning over how he graded papers... he certainly did a good job and all but its like dang man come on
― Are Slimes the Jews of monsterdom? (cankles), Thursday, 11 March 2010 20:10 (fourteen years ago) link
"die!"
― nitzer ebbebe (gbx), Thursday, 11 March 2010 20:40 (fourteen years ago) link
DFW makes me depressed cause I know that no matter how hard I try I am never going to read a book with as much drive and dedication as he did
― but actually it is impossible to have a penis on the body of a mermaid (dyao), Friday, 12 March 2010 00:57 (fourteen years ago) link
but I am glad to see his standards for student papers is not that high
― but actually it is impossible to have a penis on the body of a mermaid (dyao), Friday, 12 March 2010 01:03 (fourteen years ago) link
Really? That was the most brutal A+ I've ever seen.
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 12 March 2010 01:11 (fourteen years ago) link
He basically told the guy to rewrite it entirely.
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 12 March 2010 01:12 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah but he still gave it an A+++?
― but actually it is impossible to have a penis on the body of a mermaid (dyao), Friday, 12 March 2010 01:13 (fourteen years ago) link
he was being supportive and encouraging! which is something that's come out a fair bit after his death. he really did seem amazingly generous for someone with such high standards.
― jed_, Friday, 12 March 2010 01:17 (fourteen years ago) link
I did lol at the big "NICEEEE!" comment directed at the students first overly long footnote
― but actually it is impossible to have a penis on the body of a mermaid (dyao), Friday, 12 March 2010 01:27 (fourteen years ago) link
i only skimmed the essay, so i'm not about to judge it's actual quality (nor am i qualified to), but i think the best kinda teaching brutally rakes students over the coals and then tells them that they ~still~ did an outstanding job (provided that they actually showed effort, u know). raises expectations, outlines what those expectations probably are, assures the student that they are capable of meeting them imo
― nitzer ebbebe (gbx), Friday, 12 March 2010 01:39 (fourteen years ago) link
agree with that!
― jed_, Friday, 12 March 2010 01:44 (fourteen years ago) link
kinda feel like he'd have been aghast at someone putting papers he graded on the internet, and that happening after he's died just makes it more tacky. at least w/ the unfinished novel it's something he intended to show the public at some point.
― some dude, Friday, 12 March 2010 01:48 (fourteen years ago) link
but the paper belongs to the student?
― but actually it is impossible to have a penis on the body of a mermaid (dyao), Friday, 12 March 2010 01:51 (fourteen years ago) link
sure, but the student's still kind of a dick for putting it online imo
― some dude, Friday, 12 March 2010 01:56 (fourteen years ago) link
enh, i'd 100% agree with you if it just ended up on the internet without any of the involved parties' consent, but the student putting it up isn't really a dick move imo. chances are that they fucking adored DFW and wanted to show the world that he was a thoughtful and considerate and dedicated instructor. he might have never wanted the world to know that he was a style fairy, but it's not like his legacy (or w/e) is in any diminished by our knowledge that he was!
― nitzer ebbebe (gbx), Friday, 12 March 2010 01:59 (fourteen years ago) link
^^agree with this
we don't really have any evidence that DFW made some sort of kafka-esque declaration before he died (unless someone wants to point me to one)
― but actually it is impossible to have a penis on the body of a mermaid (dyao), Friday, 12 March 2010 02:03 (fourteen years ago) link
man i miss this guy
srsly the only "famous" person death that really, genuinely bummed me out.
― nitzer ebbebe (gbx), Friday, 12 March 2010 02:07 (fourteen years ago) link
ehh i understand and i'm not being totally hardline and humorless about this, nor do i think DFW had any Kafka-ish attitude about his unpublished work etc. or that this has any effect on his legacy. i'm just saying if one of his fans was lucky enough to be in one of his classes, they could stand to be cool about it and not show the guy's little feedback notes to everyone in the world, and the fact that they only did so now that he's dead seems even more gross to me. i realize once a great author is dead people tend to dig up personal correspondence and all sorts of shit, and this isn't quite that, but a little more restraint and decorum would be nice imo.
― some dude, Friday, 12 March 2010 02:23 (fourteen years ago) link
u crazy
― zvookster, Friday, 12 March 2010 02:33 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/03/whats-in-the-david-foster-wallace-archive.html
“Unfortunately,” Schwartzburg said, “there does not appear to be a copy of ‘The Corrections.’ ”
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 14 March 2010 00:40 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.lds.org/images/Manuals/tchg-pix.nfo:o:f1e.jpg
― How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Sunday, 14 March 2010 01:23 (fourteen years ago) link
oh man wrong thread, I'm so sorry
― How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Sunday, 14 March 2010 01:24 (fourteen years ago) link
not entirely inappropriate
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 14 March 2010 01:52 (fourteen years ago) link
instant lolololz! thnks Abbott!
― a passing basscadet (ctrl-s), Sunday, 14 March 2010 03:05 (fourteen years ago) link
I know right!!!
Student paper: "problematize"DFW: "This is a bullshit academic word. Shun it. Fly it. Trust me."
Salut.
― a passing basscadet (ctrl-s), Thursday, March 11, 2010 2:22 PM (3 days ago)
lol and then he taunts him with that very word down the page when offering him advice on something else
― k3vin k., Sunday, 14 March 2010 05:01 (fourteen years ago) link
hahaha AND a couple page later!
― k3vin k., Sunday, 14 March 2010 05:03 (fourteen years ago) link
so has anyone else pre-ordered this - http://www.amazon.com/Although-Course-You-Becoming-Yourself/dp/030759243X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271100674&sr=8-5
― just sayin, Monday, 12 April 2010 19:33 (fourteen years ago) link
yup! amazon told me it was shipping today!
― GREAT JOB Mushroom head (gbx), Monday, 12 April 2010 19:34 (fourteen years ago) link
did you see that review on the awl? made me so psyched for it
― just sayin, Monday, 12 April 2010 19:36 (fourteen years ago) link
nope but thx for the heads up!
― GREAT JOB Mushroom head (gbx), Monday, 12 April 2010 19:36 (fourteen years ago) link
very excited for this book
― Mr. Que, Monday, 12 April 2010 19:45 (fourteen years ago) link
supposedly my copy is showing up in mere hours
― ksh, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 18:35 (fourteen years ago) link
Que & i are excited abt the same thing? delete ilx
jk <3 y'all
― ksh, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 18:36 (fourteen years ago) link
mang, no uk edition. ordered it. wonder if it'll show up.
― thomp, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 18:42 (fourteen years ago) link
sorry, pretty sure HM customs and excise are intercepting all US editions of DFW stuff.
― caek, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 18:44 (fourteen years ago) link
ok that awl thing DID make me more excited
― GREAT JOB Mushroom head (gbx), Tuesday, 13 April 2010 19:01 (fourteen years ago) link
****BREAKING: wheelchair terrorists from Canada have seized all copies of the new book "Although of Course you End up Becoming Yourself" by David Lipsky****
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 19:12 (fourteen years ago) link
my copy just showed up!
― ksh, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 19:34 (fourteen years ago) link
:o
― GREAT JOB Mushroom head (gbx), Tuesday, 13 April 2010 19:39 (fourteen years ago) link
OMG!!! YES!!! SO GOOD 2 HEAR LIVEBLOGG READING IT NOW ITT!!!!!!
― Lamp, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 19:40 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah why r u posting when u should be readin
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 19:42 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah seriously wtf posting when u should be reading it wtf *hits hand against chest like retard*
― robert bly is mrs. doubtfire? (Matt P), Tuesday, 13 April 2010 19:47 (fourteen years ago) link
god is this already so sad
― GREAT JOB Mushroom head (gbx), Wednesday, 14 April 2010 21:44 (fourteen years ago) link
ha, "this is" but w/e i guess that works too
am v much enjoying thisif it was here i would quote page referencessome of the editorialising is a little ott[repeats my joke, MAKES IT FUNNIER]
― Earning your Masters in Library and Information Science is beautiful (schlump), Thursday, 15 April 2010 12:03 (fourteen years ago) link
so how is this book?????
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 15 April 2010 16:26 (fourteen years ago) link
it's excellent. so far i'm around page 80, having skipped the "afterward" which was somewhere towards the beginning . . .
DFW, as always, is funny, incisive, and smartt. some of Lipsky's in-brackets asides are seriously grating though; occasionally, it feels like he's injecting himself into the book where it isn't really necessary at all
― ksh, Thursday, 15 April 2010 22:49 (fourteen years ago) link