Markson’s Pier

“Writer is not David Markson.”

So begins Markson’s Pier, a chapbook that pays homage to the deceased David Markson (1927 – 2010) while furthering his vision.

On a plane, the book’s protagonist—referred to only as “Writer”—cannot help but dwell on aeronautical mishaps, random dates of death and places of birth, items bought and bequeathed, and a multitude of facts and obscure quotations related to the musical and literary arts, the cultural fabric of history. Writer is not David Markson, but Writer does carry a comic sadness reminiscent of Markson’s protagonists. As Writer’s fate becomes clear, we reach an understanding of what Writer did—and, even more intriguing, what Writer did not do.

Co-authors David Ewald and Stuart Ross possess a reverence for Markson, whose final four novels have left an indelible footprint on how many in their circles think about writing and read about writing. With Markson’s Pier they have exercised their own thoughts about reading and writing and combined the forces of their two minds to come up with what amounts to, they hope, half a book of his. It is a tribute to Markson and the way he explored the canons that shape us. The title, Markson’s Pier, is two-meaning. In the pages before you Ewald and Ross emulate him, and they do so by looking out onto the ocean to which he has drawn us.

Markson’s Pier was originally published in Volume XI of Essays & Fictions, Winter/Spring 2013.

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