Drunken dinners with publishing people. Talking to journalists who've interviewed other authors. For example, female journalists tell me that Joyce Carol Oates is infamous for refusing questions from female reporters. Publicists are also a rich source of trivial. For example, Maya Angelou was once in a hotel fire, so she'd never stay in a room above the second floor. Luxury hotels only have conference rooms and gyms on the second, third, and fourth floors. That meant Maya had to be booked in a budget Red Roof Inn or the like. The fix was to rent her a luxury tour bus, like she was a band.
Vonnegut was such a devote smoker that he was faced with a similar issue. Most ritzy hotels only allowed smoking in rooms on very low floors, typically near the noisy swimming pool or outdoor nightclub. He was also such a light sleeper that the noise kept him awake, so publicists would buy drinks and pull strings to keep the pool area quiet during his stay.
I'll never forget the first time I read The Judges speech on war in Blood Meridian. I was with my family waiting for a table at P.F. Changs lol. Weird moment to be hit with the gravity of all that. RIP to one of my favorites.
Except there's no inheritance tax, not where he lived. I think only six states in the US have an inheritance tax. He has two surviving sons, and yes, the younger has 250 signed copies of The Road, which were for him to sell, or do whatever, when he turned 18 years. He's now in his 20s, so could have sold them whenever he wanted to.
Still not the point. The signed books aren't his inheritance, they were a gift during life. Cormac suggested his son could sell them and go to Las Vegas, or whatever, when the son turned 18.
I wish he'd said something about why the young son, given the book was based on real conversations with the older son, as far as I understand. It's not much of a puzzle, but it's a niggle in my mind.
Hey Chuck! I am sad to hear of his passing. Just a few days ago I bought a copy of Blood Meridian. A few days before that, I had been listening to the audiobook while I played Minecraft. It was interesting trying to build a house while the narrator went on about scalpings and murder. Now I can read and listen at the same time for maximum effect.
Question. How do you feel about his thoughts on quotation marks? I think he remarked that he didn't like the sight of those little marks dotting the page. It is my understanding that he got rid of them to make the reading an easier experience. And he doesn't really use commas either, instead opting for the word "and" to link multiple phrases. Which is still something I have to adapt to.
I know in Consider This you talked about dialogue with and without quotation marks. If I remember correctly, you talked about how dialogue without quotations marks minimizes what they are saying, whereas the stuff with quotation marks, legitimizing the words. Correct me if I'm wrong.
But I just wanted to hear what you thought about his lack of commas and quotation marks.
Hope you are well, by the way. I couldn't comment until I subbed and it was bothering me that I wasn't a part of the party haha
Yikes. It seems we still can't resize art on Substack. Giant everything.
Not only DeLillo but also Pynchon. Man that guy must be old by now but he's still releasing quality work.
how do you know all this stuff? 😀
Funny you ask...
Drunken dinners with publishing people. Talking to journalists who've interviewed other authors. For example, female journalists tell me that Joyce Carol Oates is infamous for refusing questions from female reporters. Publicists are also a rich source of trivial. For example, Maya Angelou was once in a hotel fire, so she'd never stay in a room above the second floor. Luxury hotels only have conference rooms and gyms on the second, third, and fourth floors. That meant Maya had to be booked in a budget Red Roof Inn or the like. The fix was to rent her a luxury tour bus, like she was a band.
Vonnegut was such a devote smoker that he was faced with a similar issue. Most ritzy hotels only allowed smoking in rooms on very low floors, typically near the noisy swimming pool or outdoor nightclub. He was also such a light sleeper that the noise kept him awake, so publicists would buy drinks and pull strings to keep the pool area quiet during his stay.
Such stories are endless.
More dinners with publishing people. haha. thanks.
btw is writing "haha" considered annoying. I go back and forth. anybody?
It beats lol.
Thats brilliant. And the personalization is worth so much more.
Martin Amis and Cormac McCarthy in the same year. What a colossal loss.
I remember hearing that he was quite poor most of his life and not really bothered by it.
"Your heart's desire is to be told some mystery. The mystery is that there is no mystery." (Blood Meridian)
Apparently none of his first five hardbacks (including Blood Meridian) sold more than 5,000 copies. But his publisher stuck with him.
You’ll like this Chuck. This parody account once fooled Stephen King into thinking it was real:
https://twitter.com/cormacmccrthy/status/1668713006765871104?s=46&t=9OyyajqeUUbmXucehbEJUA
I'll never forget the first time I read The Judges speech on war in Blood Meridian. I was with my family waiting for a table at P.F. Changs lol. Weird moment to be hit with the gravity of all that. RIP to one of my favorites.
Except there's no inheritance tax, not where he lived. I think only six states in the US have an inheritance tax. He has two surviving sons, and yes, the younger has 250 signed copies of The Road, which were for him to sell, or do whatever, when he turned 18 years. He's now in his 20s, so could have sold them whenever he wanted to.
Some of his books are going for up to $40K.
Still not the point. The signed books aren't his inheritance, they were a gift during life. Cormac suggested his son could sell them and go to Las Vegas, or whatever, when the son turned 18.
Yes, a cool gift, and a cool motive.
I wish he'd said something about why the young son, given the book was based on real conversations with the older son, as far as I understand. It's not much of a puzzle, but it's a niggle in my mind.
This one stings. More than any other author I've read, McCarthy showed what the English language is truly capable of.
Hey Chuck! I am sad to hear of his passing. Just a few days ago I bought a copy of Blood Meridian. A few days before that, I had been listening to the audiobook while I played Minecraft. It was interesting trying to build a house while the narrator went on about scalpings and murder. Now I can read and listen at the same time for maximum effect.
Question. How do you feel about his thoughts on quotation marks? I think he remarked that he didn't like the sight of those little marks dotting the page. It is my understanding that he got rid of them to make the reading an easier experience. And he doesn't really use commas either, instead opting for the word "and" to link multiple phrases. Which is still something I have to adapt to.
I know in Consider This you talked about dialogue with and without quotation marks. If I remember correctly, you talked about how dialogue without quotations marks minimizes what they are saying, whereas the stuff with quotation marks, legitimizing the words. Correct me if I'm wrong.
But I just wanted to hear what you thought about his lack of commas and quotation marks.
Hope you are well, by the way. I couldn't comment until I subbed and it was bothering me that I wasn't a part of the party haha
RIP Cormac
Also, were the winners for the contest drawn yet? I'm a little out of the loop as of late. My apologies.
Blood Meridian is one of the best titles of all time.
Did you know that ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND was originally going to be 47 words long?
Live like you're dying.
https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a19543965/make-life-worth-living/
It will only let me see his forehead and silver foxy hair. Rest in Paradise, Sir.