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Stupid Questions for David Foster Wallace
Last night, while the rest of you were resting up for Hollywood's onanistic ode to itself (aka The Golden Globes), LAist was getting some culture in the form of David Foster Wallace, who read from his new collection of essays, Consider the Lobster at the Hammer Museum in Westwood.
Amid college cuties and L.A.'s limited literati, the long-maned California transplant (he teaches at Pomona College) read an essay on his September 11th experience called "The View from Mrs. Thompson's", which got a rave response from the audience, but the real fun came when D.F.W. opened the floor to questions.
A brief sampling:
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Audience Member: Could you talk briefly about the role of God in your life?
D.F.W.: Could you?
[Audience member then explains his view of God to D.F.W., who was being sarcastic]
D.F.W.: Ditto.
We were eating it up. So often authors feel the need to ingratiate themselves to their audience; D.F.W. challenges his. He was asked at length about the whole James-Frey-Is-a-Big-Fat-Liar debacle and he admitted that while his connection to the book was that "his sister had heard it on audiotape", while there is room to fudge in memoirs ("Who remembers what the weather was like the day their mother died?"), there is a line and that line seems to have been croosed.
He was asked why he thought A.A. and other orginizations had not come out against A Million Little Pieces. Since this had nothing to do with him, his writing or even any books he himself has read, D.F.W. answered, obviously a little irritated by his audience's complete disinterest in their speaker's own work, that it "probably has something to do with people handling their addictions in their own ways and not fucking with that, because you don't really want to shit on your own karma."
Finally, a ladies' book club asked an actual question: "Did D.F.W. make up words for masturbation in Infinite Jest?". D.F.W. looked confused and asked for an example. Grandma replied: "Priapism", pronouncing it pree-ap-ism. Nervous chuckling by the audience was followed by D.F.W. explaining just what the word means.
Just another evening of high culture in L.A.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
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