RIP David Markson

One of my favorite writers, David Markson, died a few days ago. He is perhaps best remembered for Wittgenstein's Mistress, a novel written in short aphoristic sections about a woman who is (apparently) the last person left alive on earth. Most of his later novels were written in this same style (including the wonderful Reader's Block). His earlier works, however, are very much written in the style of 'pulp' novels, including the noir-y detective novel Epitaph for a Tramp and the (hysterically funny) comic western, The Ballad of Dingus Magee, which was actually turned into a major motion picture starring Frank Sinatra called Dirty Dingus Magee. Markson was a phenomenal talent, and his death is a serious loss for readers of experimental literature.


You can read interviews with the man himself here and here.