Oh Vollmann

William T. Vollmann has a new book coming out. It's called Imperial, and it's weighty. It costs $55 and is 1,300 pages long — "so heavy, he observed recently, that if you dropped it, you’d break a toe."

Whores for Gloria was insanely beautiful and terrifying. The Atlas has more interest in it than any collection of stories I've ever picked up; a truly educational experience in some of the most banal, unexpectedly-interesting topics.

The New York Times explores his new book here. The man is his own.

"He acknowledged that the length of Imperial might cost him readers but said: 'I don’t care. It seems like the important thing in life is pleasing ourselves. The world doesn’t owe me a living, and if the world doesn’t want to buy my books, that’s my problem.'"