I read my first William T. Vollmann book while living in a drafty wooden shack in Guatemala. Vollmann's obsessive books were perfect for my monastic life in that house--I could spend entire evenings copying out his roller-coaster sentences and crazy logic.
Vollmann writes everything: gigantic historical novels, private detective books, and some of the most cutting-edge nonfiction you will ever read. We didn't read him in my literature classes, and we didn't read him in my journalism classes. When I saw Vollmann read about evil in New York City, I realized the academy doesn't know what to do with him.
Luckily, we have more than an enough web-based community to study this man's work. Check out The Vollmann Club, there's enough reading material and essays there to start a relationship with one of the most under-read great writers of our day. He's worth the effort, and you'll find some great blogs in the process:
"The Vollmann Club is an online collaborative effort to read all of William T. Vollmann's books and place Mr. Vollmann's work into perspective. Participating sites include Black Market Kidneys, Conversational Reading, The Happy Booker, Rake's Progress, and Return of the Reluctant. The project began after several people saw Mr. Vollmann at book signings, got a bit excited, and realized that they needed to read more of his work."
Thanks to Ed Champion for the link.
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