NYT Book Review Reveals: Dave Eggers Was The Cuddly Root Of The Sexless Aughties
Amidst the various and sundry and, quite frankly, queasy-making decade’s-end roundups we willingly, stupidly consumed over the last two weeks, we have to say: Katie Roiphe’s essay in the New York TimesBook Review yesterday was probably one of the best. Here, Roiphe compares and contrasts today’s literary “lions” (bear cubs might be a more apt description?) with those of yesteryear and discovers a startling thing you may have noticed yourself at some point over the last few years but were too afraid to admit it: None of these guys like sex. And yes, Roiphe will grant you that the withered (though still angry! so angry!) penis of, say, Philip Roth may be a scary proposition indeed in 2010, at least you know he’s willing to do more than cuddle. Aughties, you were fun and all, we guess, but if we learned one thing, it’s probably this: Enough of this fascination with ourselves already, no?
January 4th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
With the overwhelming professionalization of art & literature we’ve seen over the past half century, is this really a surprise? Artists and writers–who are now expected to have resumes and credentials–will likely stick to only the approved and/or profitable transgressions.
FYI: I put a glory hole in my book (Page 57).
January 5th, 2010 at 2:14 am
Although it’s hard to top the sexually weird bar set by GR, during the last decade Thomas Pynchon undeniably lived up to his reputation as a writer that sits around and imagines the strange things that our private parts can do to each other.
Roiphe’s article was really insightful, but I don’t know why she has dismissed Pynchon. He should have been included in this list. He still produces texts that should be considered among the best of what is written by human beings, and, more germanely, he presides among the biggest fictionally imaginative pervballs of history.
January 5th, 2010 at 11:50 am
GR?
January 5th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
@bmurray, GR=Gravity’s Rainbow for Pynchon fetishists.
January 5th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Do you guys even know who Katie Roiphe really is? Sure you wanna link arms with this reactionary?