Dirda On Books Michael Dirda Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, March 24, 1999

Michael Dirda The Washington Post

Michael Dirda's name appears weekly in The Post's Book World section: – If he's not reviewing a fat literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be writing a light-hearted essay about the joys and burdens of living in a house filled with way too many books. Though holding a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda is still smart enough to be an unabashed fan of "The Simpsons," noting that "the show's genius derives from its details." He also loves P.G. Wodehouse, intellectual history, children's books and locked room mysteries--Just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner for distinguished criticism.

These days, Dirda says he spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth and daydreaming ("my only real pastime"). Otherwise he just reads books and writes about them, with occasional visits to second-hand bookstores in search of treasures. He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer working on his reviews and Readings columns. Never afraid of self-criticism and in fact pretty good at it, Dirda once noted: "Do not imagine that I regard my taste for literary artifacts as anything but shameless and vulgar. I have sunk so low as to covet Edward Gorey coffee mugs. I yearn for a bust of Dante to place on a bookcase."

Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books. Feel free to ask questions about books, reviewing, book world, collecting, publishing, my own pieces, what have you. I like arguments, so write back if there's time. Ok, here we go.

Washington, D.C.: Are there any authors who you believe "deserve" the Nobel Prize, or any that you think are destined to join Joyce, Nabokov, and other prominent writers as unfortunate non-winners (unfortunate for the credibility of the award)?

Michael Dirda: I personally don't think much of prizes and awards, since there's usually so much politicking behind the winners that the whole business seems a little shady. Not that judges don't make efforts to be fair, or even Olympian. There's also a middle-of-the road effect in many such honors--that is, the ambitious and excessive writer--the kind who make a difference to literature--tends to get overlooked. As for contemporaries who deserve a Nobel, my favorite candidates have recently died: Austria's Thomas Bernhard, Canada's Robertson Davies, England's Iris Murdoch and V.S. Pritchett, and a while back Italy's Italo Calvino. I think it'd be neat to give the prize to Gore Vidal.

Washington, D.C.: What is your favorite work by Nabokov?

Michael Dirda: Lolita, closely followed by Pale Fire, closely followed by Speak, Memory, and then The Real Life of Sebastian Knight and a handful of stories. The Edmund Wilson/Vladimir Nabokov Letters is a terrific correspondence and a lot of fun. Check out what they have to say about The Story of O.

Alexandria, VA: What have you heard about a new release from Thomas Harris? It's been over 10 years since he penned "Silence of the Lambs."

Michael Dirda: Only thing I know is that Harris has been spending a lot of time in Italy, so I suspect Hannibal Lecter is over there, indulging his taste for Italian. Or should I say Italians.

columbia, md: Was there ever a book written on Grendel that gave the monster's mother a name?
I'm going to check out Gardner's Grendel when I have time. More than 20 year's ago ( it was like yesterday) my junior hs english teacher said she would give an automatic A to any one who came up with an answer. A friend whose father is a well known professor at the time didn't know. I'm sure it was a devious joke. We gave her hell.

Michael Dirda: In the old English poem she's just referred to as Grendel's Dam (i.e. mother). It was a devious joke. On the other hand, Thomas Browne once said that the name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among the women was beyond all conjecture, but Robert Graves in the White Goddess claimed it was a variant of Mary and proved it in his wonderfully crackpot way.

Woodbridge, Virginia: For a number of years now, I've been a big fan of Mark Helprin (although not always of his politics). I have also found on the internet a global network of other Helprin fans - many of whom reside in the Scandanavian countries. My questions is twofold: first, are you aware of another novel in the works? It has been several years since "A Soldier of the Great War" was published. Second, what is your personal opinion of Helprin as a writer? I know that he has broken many of the "rules" successfully in his novels. As a short-story writer, who comes to mind whose style is comparable? Ok, that was really three questions.

Thanks.

Carole Bondarev

Michael Dirda: I've only read a little Helprin--such as the Swan Lake he did with Chris Van Allsburg and a few stories. I like his prose though. You might try the superb fantasy writer John Crowley, in particular his great novel--a classic of our times and a favorite of honcho literary critic Harold Bloom--Little, Big.