The Quarterly Conversation: Issue 14

The new issue of The Quarterly Conversation is now available.

The TOC is below. But first, I want to call out a few things:

We’re doing a contest, with the grand prize being every one of Bolano’s books in English. The winner will also receive a preview of Bolano’s forthcoming novel, which will be available from New Directions in August 2009. There are other prizes as well. Details here.

This issue, our essays and featured book review have a writing and work theme. We’ve put together an editorial statement to explain the logic behind this issue’s work theme.

We also have our first audio interview. It is Nigel Beale speaking with MacArthur "genius" Aleksandar Hemon, and we hope it is the first of many audio interviews.

Now, on to the TOC . . .

CONTEST: Win Bolaño’s English-Language Oeuvre and More

Features: Writing and Work Section

From the Editors: On Writing and Work

“There are four ways to survive as a writer in the US in 2006: the university; journalism; odd jobs; and independent wealth,” argues Keith Gessen in n + 1. We disagree.

Soulbroken

“It was a sunny day, hot and not real breezy, when I brought Oblivion with me to my bench. I felt almost cheeky, book in hand, making my way to the pond, like I knew something everyone else at the office didn’t know. It was easy to find the part of the story I loved so much because I had marked it off and marked it up . . . “

William Gaddis, the Last Protestant

William Gaddis’s career could have started with the question, “Work?” John Lingan argues that no single word better encapsulates the concerns behind Gaddis’s novels The Recognitions and J R.

Featured Book Review: Post Office by Charles Bukowski

Legends abound regarding Bukowski the drinker, Bukowski the womanizer, Bukowski the belligerent, Bukowski the unexpectedly tender-hearted. But among the many titles bestowed upon Bukowski, that of “working stiff” is rarely invoked. Nicole Gluckstern explores Bukowski the worker.

The Great Work Goes On: Carter Scholz’s Radiance

Crossing the concerns and techniques of Don DeLillo, William Gaddis, and Richard Powers, Carter Scholz has been writing some of our most interesting fiction about science, commerce, and America. Sacha Arnold digs into Radiance, his novel of nuclear weapons research scientists.

My Life in Alumni Profiles

What happens when work-based writing starts to dominate creative writing? Barrett Hathcock reveals his struggles with alumni profiles.