Even though he spent the past 10 years researching his latest nonfiction brick, Imperial, which concerns Imperial county and the Mexico-California border. The book is 1300 pages long, and (according to Amazon) 3.8 pounds. Three links to reviews follow:
New York Magazine
The Rumpus
New York Times
Mad respect to Vollmann, but I really prefer his fiction, especially his short story collection The Rainbow Stories. In it, as well as in Imperial, his obsession with violence, criminals, the dispossessed, and (especially) prostitutes is apparent. He's one of the most ambitious and prolific writers around. Which makes it even harder for me to understand why he didn't put in the time to actually learn Spanish. The NYT brings up the same point, and they provide this quote from the tome:
“Day after day I went there, hoping to invade their [Mexicans] thoughts and steal their stories, but most refused to talk to me, eyeing me with a hatred as lushly soft as a smoke tree sweeping its hair against a sand dune.”
Maybe Vollmann isn't interested in or "good at" languages. Maybe he figured picking up Spanish would add 1-2 years to his already daunting project (he ended up hiring a translator/guide instead). Whatever the reason, he manages to publish roughly one giant book per year, the word genius is often mentioned in the same sentence as his name, and he is a probable contender for the Nobel Prize. And he is resistant to editing and owns many guns.
a NYT profile
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