Tolstoy's Dictaphone: Technology and the Muse

By: Sven P. Birkerts

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Synopsis: When the great Russian writer Tolstoy was first offered the use of a brand new invention called the Dictaphone, he refused it, saying that it was sure to be "too dreadfully exciting" and would distract him from his literary endeavors. For this provocative launch of the Graywolf Forum series, Sven Birkerts invited a number of literary writers to tell him how they were reacting to the technological innovations of our day. Do the "dreadful excitements" promised by a digital future cause us to forfeit our time-honored cultural traditions for dubious gain? Or will the electronic millennium usher in an unprecedented age of interconnectedness and opportunities for wider communication? In the tradition of the Graywolf Annuals, this first Graywolf Forum presents a wide range of responses from contemporary creative writers. Contributors: Sven Birkerts, Harvey Blume, Daniel Mark Epstein, Jonathan Franzen, Thomas Frick, Alice Fulton, Albert Goldbarth, Carolyn Guyer, Gerald Howard, Wendy Lesser, Ralph Lombreglia, Carole Maso, Askold Melnyczuk, Robert Pinsky, Wulf Rehder, Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Tom Sleigh, Mark Slouka, Paul West.