The greatest "essayist" is S.A.S, obviously. (Aka Scott Alexander S. of ACX fame.) Kriss is a brillant writer (Scott praises him), but not much of an essayist - the less fictional his writing, the more apodictical or plain wrong he gets. Kriss does 'tractati', as Hesse did with Steppenwolf.
It all comes down to the criteria. Aesthetically, Sam blows Scott out of the water, off the map, demolishes him. But, for what it's worth, Scott's writing has done a lot more to help me make sense of the world. I view Kriss' work as a guide to the enchanted worlds beneath the pragmatic rationality I absorbed from Scott and his ilk. They do have in common a refusal to write books or appear on podcasts, although Scott did write Unsong that one time.
Yep. Scott: "I could not write like Kriss". But essays are about information/ argument/ or even just explaining your position. And hardly ever does Sam any of that well. A Rollercoaster 🎢 of thoughts, and you leave it exactly where you entered.
He is not much of a novelist, agreed. Nor poet (his little epic "The Goddess of Everything Else" is fine, though). But sure, name 3 better essayists than SAS. Or one. Always eager to find great writing(+thinking).
I read Kriss as a satirist, what we might call an *epistemological satirist*, as his forte is exposing the mania inherent in any confident academic or intellectual position. He’s Laurentius Clung against the theological guild of Enlightenment.
I fully agree that Kriss is one of the greats. Perhaps it’s humility that keeps him from publishing in print, likely it’s that plus the fact he just can’t be bothered. No matter. We’re lucky to have him.
My much shorter take from a few weeks back, with links to some of the best:
He has said he prefers to write for print publications, and indeed he does appear in various magazines regularly. His recent piece on the attempted Reagan assassination in Point Magazine is amazing, for example.
This is such a good and sharp piece. I, too, admire Kriss's work, and yet there is often no "there" there, which of course there (ha) doesn't have to be. His recent piece at The Point on Hinckley is interesting mostly as a reminder of what happened. His point that "It’s not just school shooters and spree killers: we are all John Hinckley now. This is the promise of the smartphone," is something that I really have to break my brain to believe. Prolificness is its own sweet thing, and yet I sometimes yearn for the old limits and boundaries, which I think made the work of writers like Paul Virilio & that ilk more immersive and engaging, maybe because the limits forced them to leave gaps in their thinking and writing, gaps that reader had to fill? In any case, this was a great read.
Reading Kriss the first time, my first thought was " This guy's mentally ill." A few more, and it's " Maybe he's just putting us on, it's all a mirthless joke." One thing is for sure : He needs an editor, or perhaps he's no writer at all.
I have a hard time trusting this essay because "Thomas Peermohamed Lambert" is exactly the type of name that Kriss would make up.
Thomas is real haha
The realest
Great stuff. The other great essayist of our time, Justin Smith-Ruiu, put me on to Kriss.
Justin is brilliant!
Same!
The greatest "essayist" is S.A.S, obviously. (Aka Scott Alexander S. of ACX fame.) Kriss is a brillant writer (Scott praises him), but not much of an essayist - the less fictional his writing, the more apodictical or plain wrong he gets. Kriss does 'tractati', as Hesse did with Steppenwolf.
It all comes down to the criteria. Aesthetically, Sam blows Scott out of the water, off the map, demolishes him. But, for what it's worth, Scott's writing has done a lot more to help me make sense of the world. I view Kriss' work as a guide to the enchanted worlds beneath the pragmatic rationality I absorbed from Scott and his ilk. They do have in common a refusal to write books or appear on podcasts, although Scott did write Unsong that one time.
Yep. Scott: "I could not write like Kriss". But essays are about information/ argument/ or even just explaining your position. And hardly ever does Sam any of that well. A Rollercoaster 🎢 of thoughts, and you leave it exactly where you entered.
Siskind is incredibly overrated.
He is not much of a novelist, agreed. Nor poet (his little epic "The Goddess of Everything Else" is fine, though). But sure, name 3 better essayists than SAS. Or one. Always eager to find great writing(+thinking).
I read Kriss as a satirist, what we might call an *epistemological satirist*, as his forte is exposing the mania inherent in any confident academic or intellectual position. He’s Laurentius Clung against the theological guild of Enlightenment.
I fully agree that Kriss is one of the greats. Perhaps it’s humility that keeps him from publishing in print, likely it’s that plus the fact he just can’t be bothered. No matter. We’re lucky to have him.
My much shorter take from a few weeks back, with links to some of the best:
https://ericmader.substack.com/p/just-read-sam-kriss
He has said he prefers to write for print publications, and indeed he does appear in various magazines regularly. His recent piece on the attempted Reagan assassination in Point Magazine is amazing, for example.
Agreed. A very subtle piece.
Well said! Thank you.
👏
Montaigne? Seriously? Dave Barry is more like it.
A clever little post-adolescent like the UK turns out by the lorry-load.
Nope, Kriss is brilliant. You're very wrong there.
This is such a good and sharp piece. I, too, admire Kriss's work, and yet there is often no "there" there, which of course there (ha) doesn't have to be. His recent piece at The Point on Hinckley is interesting mostly as a reminder of what happened. His point that "It’s not just school shooters and spree killers: we are all John Hinckley now. This is the promise of the smartphone," is something that I really have to break my brain to believe. Prolificness is its own sweet thing, and yet I sometimes yearn for the old limits and boundaries, which I think made the work of writers like Paul Virilio & that ilk more immersive and engaging, maybe because the limits forced them to leave gaps in their thinking and writing, gaps that reader had to fill? In any case, this was a great read.
Poop
Reading Kriss the first time, my first thought was " This guy's mentally ill." A few more, and it's " Maybe he's just putting us on, it's all a mirthless joke." One thing is for sure : He needs an editor, or perhaps he's no writer at all.
Original draft was 16,000 but the editors cut it down
It was 32k