I read Cawelti’s essay between my readings of Mao II. As soon as I started reading the novel again I started jumping back to what Cawelti had written particularly with in the final portion of his essay regarding what he defined as “interpreter” and “representative” roles of the author-celebrity. I automatically associated the character Bill to the examples Salinger and Pynchon Cawelti gave, and Scott’s description of how he felt when he read a novel seemed to match exactly the experience a reader would have when reading something written by what they perceive as a “representative” author. “That book was about me somehow… I saw myself. It was my book. Something about the way I think and feel.” (DeLillo, 51) That seems to be pretty close to Calweti’s definition, and definition of vicarious. When discussing the Bill’s writing dilemma on the following page, one (I had a hard time following who Scott was talking with) the mention that should the author publish, it would be the end of his myth, that is the end of Bill’s mythical persona, which sounded exactly like the mythic celebrity persona of some actual writer’s that Cawelti described.
Something I also noticed was the use of “Bill” in place of the title of any book he might of reading. When Scott mentions reading one of Bill’s books he says “when I was reading Bill” or “something out of Bill Gray.” It’s a motif in line with the text’s obsession with the concept of the author. After all the narrative thus far seems to be centered around the aforementioned author. At this point its seems that the text is constructing the author of the source of information and experience, not the novel (generally speaking). Bill’s inability to finish a novel adds an interesting aspect to this notion; by endlessly working on his work, Bill reflects the idea that inspiration (or experience, maybe?) is constant. This may be at odds with the nature of the book as discussed at the dinner between the characters, in which there is some debate over whether “books are never finished.” (DeLillo, 73)
Thus far I’m not sure how this plays into the larger context of the novel. In fact I’m not really sure where the text is going at this point. As far as I’ve read, the plots about Bill’s struggle as an author, Brita’s photography of Bill, and Karen’s deprogramming haven’t impacted each other. That said the plot of photographing bill seems to play toward his “mythic” status along the lines of what is discussed by DeLillo, for example when he discusses author going on talk shows, exposing themselves to public scrutiny & etc. But I just can’t tell for certain where everything is going.