/lit/ - Literature

What the hell is his problem?

Am I supposed to envision Helen Steeply as something along the lines of trans-William Vollman?

>>22208441
Are you unaware?

Is William Vollmann worth reading?
There's just something extremely alluring about him
Here's a guy who writes extremely detailed and extensively researched historical fiction about WW2 and the vikings, who writes a 7 volume non-fiction book on violence and then a 2 volume series on climate change, to cap it all off he is a self confessed cross dresser
Is it worth going deep into this guy's bibliography? I am particularly interested in Europe Central

>>21656118
The meme is the author of the afterword. The book is a classic.

He crossdressed for like a year for research. I admire the dedication.

>>20759229
This

One of the living masters of American literature. His work is vast and his books are huge. Where to start with this guy?

>>20274950
is it true he did it to understand prostitutes or some shit? I think he was writing a book on prostitutes

>>19766157
>He sounds interesting. I'm gonna google him.
>Oh...Oh no...

>>19693218
My favourite authoress. I'm starting with The ice-shirt soon. I want to read op sometime but his books are nearly impossible to get in the third world.

>>19685434
Very ugly and very creepy.

>>19665565

>>19602864
Yes, he is in fact mentally ill, ugly, and disgusting.
No, I will not be reading his books.

>>19593059
>>19596651
Hell, he doesn't pass period...

>Vollmann started work as a computer programmer, even though he had virtually no experience with computers. According to a New York Times Magazine profile by the novelist Madison Smartt Bell, for a year Vollmann wrote much of his first novel, You Bright and Risen Angels, after hours on office computers, subsisting on candy bars from vending machines and hiding from the janitorial staff.
>Vollman became depressed and began cross dressing in 2008 and has developed a female alter ego persona named Dolores which is documented in The Book of Dolores."'Dolores is a relatively young woman trapped in this fat, aging male body,' Mr. Vollmann said. 'I’ve bought her a bunch of clothes, but she's not grateful. She would like to get rid of me if she could.'"
>In his personal life, Vollmann – who eschews not only the fame of authorship but also cellphones, credit cards, and other modern age touchstones – has sometimes been characterized as a misanthrope, even a Luddite. In a 2013 Harper's essay, "Life as a Terrorist", Vollmann revealed how the perception of "anti-progress, anti-industrialist themes" in his early writings had changed his life. Using official files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the essay details Vollmann's investigation by the FBI as a suspect in the mid-1990s Unabomber case.

>Vollmann started work as a computer programmer, even though he had virtually no experience with computers. According to a New York Times Magazine profile by the novelist Madison Smartt Bell, for a year Vollmann wrote much of his first novel, You Bright and Risen Angels, after hours on office computers, subsisting on candy bars from vending machines and hiding from the janitorial staff.
>Vollman became depressed and began cross dressing in 2008 and has developed a female alter ego persona named Dolores which is documented in The Book of Dolores."'Dolores is a relatively young woman trapped in this fat, aging male body,' Mr. Vollmann said. 'I’ve bought her a bunch of clothes, but she's not grateful. She would like to get rid of me if she could.'"
>In his personal life, Vollmann – who eschews not only the fame of authorship but also cellphones, credit cards, and other modern age touchstones – has sometimes been characterized as a misanthrope, even a Luddite. In a 2013 Harper's essay, "Life as a Terrorist", Vollmann revealed how the perception of "anti-progress, anti-industrialist themes" in his early writings had changed his life. Using official files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the essay details Vollmann's investigation by the FBI as a suspect in the mid-1990s Unabomber case.

The Book of Dolores

I'd skip all the waffle and jump straight into The Book of Dolores.