Lynne Tillman & Brian Dillon: Thrilled to Death

Haunted Houses is an early work by Lynne Tillman that weaves together the lives of women through experimental narrative techniques, showcasing her interest in fragmented perspectives and feminist critique. The book opposes stereotypical portrayals of women in fiction, offering characters who are complex, sometimes unsympathetic, and resistant to conventional roles. Tillman's prose mixes precise observational detail with associative leaps, producing a voice both witty and unsettling. The novel established Tillman's reputation for audacious formal choices and thematic engagement with gender and subjectivity. It remains an important example of her work from the 1980s and is often cited in discussions of her development as a writer.

Weird Fucks is a 2021 publication by Lynne Tillman featuring her distinctive short fiction and experimental narrative voice, combining outrage, melancholy, and incisive social observation. The collection continues Tillman's long-standing interest in fragmented perspective, aphoristic sentences, and the mixing of exact scene description with associative thought. Her work often interrogates gender, cultural life, and psychoanalytic undertones, themes present throughout this collection. Tillman's prose in this volume remains sharply attuned to contemporary urban life and artistic milieus, offering readers both comic and unsettling moments. The book adds to Tillman's reputation as an audacious chronicler of modern experience and a persistent formal experimenter.

Men and Apparitions is a novel by Lynne Tillman that she describes as especially hard to write, taking around ten years intermittently to complete. Tillman explains that the book attempted to cover many subjects and required finding coherence amid fragmentation. Its difficulty led her to avoid attempting a similar project again, reflecting the personal cost of such ambitious work. The novel marks a moment in her career where she pushed formal and thematic boundaries and paid the price in extended labor. It illustrates her drive to challenge herself and vary her projects across her writing life.

American Genius, a Comedy is a novel by Lynne Tillman that foregrounds internal monologue, using an initially unnamed narrator to explore personal identity and voice. The narrative choice emphasizes interiority and the ways naming shapes reader perception, with the protagonist's name revealed late in the book via a nameplate. Tillman's approach interrogates how names create fixed images and how internal thought resists such simplification. The book blends wit, critique, and experimental technique characteristic of Tillman's broader oeuvre. It exemplifies her recurring concerns with voice, naming, and the limits of representation in fiction.

Weird Fox is an earlier longish piece by Lynne Tillman referenced during the conversation about her development amid anti-narrative debates in literary circles. Tillman cites it as part of the period when theory and anti-narrative sentiments influenced peers, prompting her to take particular stances on what fiction can provide. The work reflects her exploration of alternative narrative forms and the interplay between idea and execution. In the discussion, Tillman uses it to illustrate her resistance to certain metafictional tendencies and her interest in communication and narrative that offers information differently. It represents an early stage in her evolving approach to fiction and voice.

Come and Go is a short fiction piece by Lynne Tillman that opens the curated collection discussed in the event; it's noted for an especially precise, striking paragraph and for characters named Charles and Emma. The story situates readers in a vividly described scene that then opens into associative thoughts and aphoristic lines, exemplifying Tillman's voice. It functions as a strong entrance to the collection, balancing the title piece and establishing tonal shifts that follow. The story was written in the 1990s and reflects Tillman's interest in style, cultural markers, and the interplay between observation and interior reflection. As presented in the conversation, it exemplifies Tillman's tendency to mix exact physical detail with digressive, sententious commentary.

Dr. Archibald Hart discusses the phenomenon of anhedonia, where excessive pleasure-seeking leads to an inability to experience pleasure, and provides seven steps to recover from this condition. The book delves into the brain's pleasure system and how overstimulation affects it, contributing to depression and boredom.