David S Wallace

I wrote about Francesca Wade's fascinating biography of Gertrude Stein, and why we need Gertrude now more than ever. thenation.com/article/cultur…

Seamus Heaney was the most famous poet alive at the end of the 20th century—what does it mean to read him in a changed world? I wrote about the achievement of his collected poems and the delicate balancing of public persona and personal vision. poetryfoundation.org/articles/17606…

I wrote about Chris Kraus's new novel (not very good, sorry), her lasting influence, and the aesthetic dimension of her landlordism—something played up in her recent work. Autofiction becomes autopay? Enjoy thebaffler.com/latest/i-love-…

For the NYRB, I wrote about Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, a once-neglected modernist monolith and the 20th century's top opium fever dream. My thoughts on what makes it both fascinating and frustrating, as well as the phenomenon of the Great Big Novel. nybooks.com/articles/2025/…

Late summer special: for The Paris Review, I wrote about Going to the Shakespeare Festival. theparisreview.org/blog/2025/09/1…

For @lareviewofbooks, I wrote about the poetry of Natalie Shapero and its midnight-dark humor. lareviewofbooks.org/article/cough-…

Nearly everyone praises W.G. Sebald, but by the same turn the way people talk about him is a bit boring: a received idea. Reading his early essays, I tried to think about him—his influences, his strangeness—from the beginning. thenation.com/article/cultur…

(Originally I wanted to write about Megalopolis but it wasn't out yet... Kind of think it still works as analysis of that also, though)

Reminded to post it because of this latest cool "innovation." x.com/elonmusk/statu…

For INQUE, I wrote a bit about retrofuturism—how we look back into the past to look forward—from Edward Bellamy to Philip K. Dick. Every day I think it's a more important category, as blurry history assists our failures of imagination.

I wrote about Joe Brainard, poet, painter, and darling of 1960s and 1970s NYC counterculture. It made me think about a simple, if increasingly difficult question: whom do we make art for? newyorker.com/books/under-re…

There is a poem I wrote in the Yale Review. Thanks! yalereview.org/article/david-…

I wrote about the Norwegian novelist Vigdis Hjorth. And about repetition, plot ("trauma" or otherwise), and how the contemporary novel might rise to the challenges of love. thenation.com/article/cultur…

@_Zeets thanks for reading!

@JustJokes247 loved the essay on ecoterror

I wrote about ecoterror in fiction and film, from Edward Abbey to Rachel Kushner's latest. It's a wide-ranging piece—I'm trying to understand something about the gaps between environmental crisis, violence, and the way we depict both. Anyway, enjoy! thebaffler.com/latest/abbeys-…

Thanks to @krevinlorenzo for always indispensable edits :)

I wrote about Guy Davenport—essayist, storyteller, illustrator, serious contemplator. I suggest that maybe he is timely in his untimeliness. thenation.com/article/cultur…

For The Paris Review, I recommended Tracy Fuad's collection PORTAL. Everyday life and all its complications, both online and off, are tested and transformed by its language. theparisreview.org/blog/2024/05/1…

I spent a few days with Miranda July in March. We talked about her new book, relationships, and the ever-changing self. We also went on a drive and met two strangers from Facebook Marketplace about a rug

Some brief thoughts on one of my favorite Alice Notley poems, "The Prophet." theparisreview.org/blog/2024/04/3…