World | Longest Essay In The
Weiss had one problem: he could not finish a thought.
Weiss invented a form he called the Spiral Footnote . A normal footnote points to external information. A spiral footnote points to another footnote later in the essay . That footnote points to a previous one. That previous one points to a passage in the main text that no longer exists because Weiss deleted it in a later draft. longest essay in the world
But I have read enough to know that The Unfinished is the truest essay ever written. Because an essay is not a conclusion. The word "essay" comes from the French essayer —to try, to attempt. Weiss had one problem: he could not finish a thought
And you’d be half right. But I think Weiss stumbled onto something profound—accidentally, recursively, over 4,782 pages. A spiral footnote points to another footnote later
His doctoral thesis ran to 2,200 pages. His publisher threatened to sue. His first book, Toward a Hermeneutics of Hesitation , was meant to be a slim 200-page volume. He delivered 1,400 pages of "preliminary notes." He famously said, "A conclusion is a violence I refuse to commit against the possible."
And in that impossible, bloated, beautiful failure, he succeeded.
We are told that good writing is clear, concise, and decisive. That a blog post should be 1,500 words. That a tweet should be sharp. That a thought should have a conclusion.
Weiss had one problem: he could not finish a thought.
Weiss invented a form he called the Spiral Footnote . A normal footnote points to external information. A spiral footnote points to another footnote later in the essay . That footnote points to a previous one. That previous one points to a passage in the main text that no longer exists because Weiss deleted it in a later draft.
But I have read enough to know that The Unfinished is the truest essay ever written. Because an essay is not a conclusion. The word "essay" comes from the French essayer —to try, to attempt.
And you’d be half right. But I think Weiss stumbled onto something profound—accidentally, recursively, over 4,782 pages.
His doctoral thesis ran to 2,200 pages. His publisher threatened to sue. His first book, Toward a Hermeneutics of Hesitation , was meant to be a slim 200-page volume. He delivered 1,400 pages of "preliminary notes." He famously said, "A conclusion is a violence I refuse to commit against the possible."
And in that impossible, bloated, beautiful failure, he succeeded.
We are told that good writing is clear, concise, and decisive. That a blog post should be 1,500 words. That a tweet should be sharp. That a thought should have a conclusion.
