believermag: I have been reading Julie Hecht’s fascinating book, Was This Man a Genius: Talks with Andy Kaufman. It was originally meant to be a profile for Harper’s, but it was considered “too strange to be published” and ended up as a book. They are a perfect match for each other: beguiling, defiant, and either wholly childlike or masterful manipulators. She follows him around and tries to understand (or tries not to understand) what he’s doing. Nothing really happens. It’s as much an act of performance art as his routines were. Julie Hecht was interviewed in the May 2008 issue of The Believer by Andrew Nellins. It begins: THE BELIEVER: How do you explain your work to people? JULIE HECHT: I don’t explain my work to anyone. Writers write. They edit their work many times. They don’t have to explain it. BLVR: If you meet someone and they say, “What kind of books do you write?” what do you say? JH: I say as little as possible. I say that I write stories. And if they say, “What are they about?” and if I’m forced to be polite, I say: “They’re about the way things are now.” - Sheila Heti

believermag:

I have been reading Julie Hecht’s fascinating book, Was This Man a Genius: Talks with Andy Kaufman. It was originally meant to be a profile for Harper’s, but it was considered “too strange to be published” and ended up as a book. They are a perfect match for each other: beguiling, defiant, and either wholly childlike or masterful manipulators. She follows him around and tries to understand (or tries not to understand) what he’s doing. Nothing really happens. It’s as much an act of performance art as his routines were.

Julie Hecht was interviewed in the May 2008 issue of The Believer by Andrew Nellins. It begins:

THE BELIEVER: How do you explain your work to people?

JULIE HECHT: I don’t explain my work to anyone. Writers write. They edit their work many times. They don’t have to explain it.

BLVR: If you meet someone and they say, “What kind of books do you write?” what do you say?

JH: I say as little as possible. I say that I write stories. And if they say, “What are they about?” and if I’m forced to be polite, I say: “They’re about the way things are now.”

- Sheila Heti

Notes

  1. makingmyselfcompany reblogged this from believermag
  2. rocket2nowhere reblogged this from believermag
  3. totalhermit reblogged this from believermag
  4. inspiracioh reblogged this from believermag
  5. drum-taps reblogged this from believermag
  6. barretta reblogged this from believermag and added:
    share this excerpt of post from The Believer’s blog—it’s the quintessential I am an Artist, don’t you know that? moment,...
  7. thatshtgray reblogged this from believermag
  8. getscotter reblogged this from believermag
  9. fuckyeahjean-lucgodard reblogged this from believermag and added:
    …polished representation
  10. allisonmilene reblogged this from believermag
  11. britanniahomeworkclub reblogged this from believermag
  12. jokeinajokeshop reblogged this from 19o1