Larry McMurtry answers questions from LA Observed about his work via e-mail—or, rather, he has somebody type out his spoken answers into an e-mail:
Q: You’ve written that the media supplies memories. Are you saying that one’s personal memory of something isn’t real unless it is broadcast on TV or the internet? Do you think that the mania for taking pictures with cellphones and standing in public talking loudly on the phone is a way to take our memories back – create our own – star in our own stories, as obnoxious as that is for people standing behind the person on the phone? What are the consequences of all of this when it comes to the written word?
A: What I meant by the media supplying memories is that we watch movies, or television, and those things become part of our memory bank. We’ll have to wait and see what consequences these things will bring. I don’t know. Maybe no consequences. Maybe these things will eliminate the written word, but it’s unlikely. I don’t use a computer, nor go near the internet. In fact, Diana Ossana, my writing partner, is typing my spoken responses to your questions into her computer.
I call shenanigans on his claim that Heaven’s Gate is now considered a masterpiece, but otherwise there’s smart stuff in the whole interview.
markathitakis.com 