About Stephen Dixon, who was nominated by the Rake, another one of our underrated writers, J. Robert Lennon, writes:
Dixon is always clever, but never precious. He will try anything. He'll write a pornographic story with all the dirty words misspelled ("Milk Is Very Good for You"). He'll write a story with all the dialogue removed, but the dialogue tags left in ("Said"). He'll write a monologue containing half a dozen nested quotes (30, his best novel). He'll write a story about himself losing the National Book Award then fantasizing about winning it ("The Victor"). Never is he doing this to impress you, though you are impressed; he is making the mechanics of the prose answer to the fears and flaws of his characters. He is showing you the comedy of sex, the futility of words, the stratiation of thought, the perils of vanity. Critics have called Dixon difficult, perverted, pretentious. Their hearts are pitifully small. You have to go into a Dixon book the way you'd go into a game of strip poker: ready to end up naked. He gives it to you straight, and means every word. He is the least pretentious living writer.
More about Stephen Dixon
+ Jonathan Lethem on Stephen Dixon
+ An Interview with Dixon
+ Rake's review of Dixon's Old Friends
+ Stephen Dixon reflects on his life's work
+ Dixon's literature map
+ Buy Dixon's latest novel, Phone Rings
Stratiation? Stratification? Striation?
Posted by: Just Wandering Through | July 16, 2007 at 09:21 AM