More ways to support The Quarterly Conversation
The Quarterly Conversation’s winter contest! First prize is every single one of Roberto Bolaño’s works available in English. Details here. [more]
“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. [more]
“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 . . . “ [more]
William Gaddis’s career could have started with the question, “Work?” John Lingan argues that no single word better encapsulates the concerns and organizing metaphor for Gaddis’s artistic project. [more]
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. [more]
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. [more]
What happens when work-based writing starts to dominate creative writing? Barrett Hathcock reveals his struggles with alumni profiles. [more]
Phoenix
Jim Fuess
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 36 inches
Courtesy of the artist