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Have you heard the Word…for Word? Oxford University Press is proud to partner with the Bryant Park Reading Room in support of the Word for Word Book Club. The series kicks off today, with six more Clubs scheduled throughout the summer. Be sure to stop by the Reading Room early for a FREE* copy of the book club selections.

The Bryant Park Blog posed to following questions to resident OUP Law Editor and acclaimed novelist Matthew Gallaway, author of The Metropolis Case, who will lead today’s Word for Word Book Club, along with Seth Colter Walls. This first discussion of the season will focus on The Pale King, the posthumously published novel by David Foster Wallace.

You can meet Matthew Gallaway today, May 24th, at 12:30pm in beautiful Bryant Park. The outdoor Reading Room is just off 42nd St, between 5th and 6th Avenues in New York City. In the event of rain, discussions will relocate to the The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, 20 West 44th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenues).

Where do you do your best writing? In airports.

Did you have an “a-ha!” moment that made you want to be a writer? When I read Against The Grain, by JK Huysmans.

Which author do you wish had been your 7th grade English teacher? Oscar Wilde.

What is your secret talent? I’m very good at growing ferns.

What is your favorite book? In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust.

Who reads your first draft? My partner Stephen.

Do you read your books after they’ve been published? No.

What book are you currently reading? All Aunt Hagar’s Children, by Edward P. Jones

What word or punctuation mark are you most guilty of overusing? The em-dash.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be? A gardener.

For more information on Matthew and his new book, check out this episode of The Oxford Comment podcast.

*Yes, by “free” we mean free. Actually, truly, really free. Register to reserve your complimentary copy, or take your chances and get there early; books are available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Word for Word Book Club
Tuesdays , 12:30pm – 1:45pm
May 24, June 14, June 28, July 12, July 26, August 9, August 23
Reading Room

0 Comments on Q&A with Matthew Gallaway as of 1/1/1900

While exploring the David Foster Wallace archive, Justine Tal Goldberg unearthed a poem most likely written as a grade school assignment.

According to The Guardian, Goldberg was researching for an article when she found a thick folder labeled “very early DFW.” It also contained illustrated short stories, school reading lists and essays on baseball with smiley faces scribbled on the margins.

The article offers these lines from the adolescent Wallace (pictured, via) poem: “My mother works so hard / so hard and for bread. She needs some lard. / She bakes the bread. And makes / the bed. And when she’s / threw she feels she’s dayd.” What do you think? (via Publisher’s Weekly)

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