two thingsies of note

Thing One: Carrie has an interview between the indefatigable Robert Birnbaum and Marianne Wiggins (aka "Rushdie's ex who gave Irving that bad review" and acclaimed novelist), conducted for Stuff magazine back in 1995 and so not previously available online. Topics discussed include: Alasdair Gray; Mormons; Howard Hughes; flip books; the Sioux; the “Indian bride’s form”; blasphemy and Satanic Verses; Mirabella and Granta; doing crap work for magazines; writing as “joyous failure”; the challenge of writing as a man; “pendulous breasts”; Cormac McCarthy and book tours; and more.

Alasdair Gray!

Thing Two: Reader of Depressing Books has several posts about genius Joy Williams you should take a look at. Prelude, Post the First, Post the Second, Post the Third, Post the Fourth, and Post the Final (?). RODB describes the posts thus:

the first post is on her fiction, the second her non-fiction

the third post is on some other things

the fourth post is an essay she wrote that can't be found anywhere on the internet except for here

It's like a little Joy Williams party. And I'll throw in a link to an extract from her Granta essay "The Case Against Babies," even though I've linked it before.

(Ed note: The essay is up without permission, so read it quick just in case. Who knows if JW is down with Creative Commons?)