JCO

Mark Athitakis passes along a great anecdote from an unexpected source:

As if to compensate for the general dreariness of her novels' themes—her latest is a one-two punch combining the Holocaust and domestic violence—[Joyce Carol Oates]'s affected a dry, almost Stephen Wright–like demeanor in front of the crowd. One audience member said she understood she had an interest in boxing, and could she expand on that? "Well, I wrote a book called On Boxing," she said, dryly. "That may have given you a small hint of that." It sounds bitchier written down than it does when she says it. Thompson didn't write about her weirdest, funniest joke, though. She talked about Hitler and Stalin for a bit, then noted to the audience that somebody was holding a sign saying she had two minutes left. "Then they'll machine-gun me," she said."