Subject: D.F. Wallace (honest)
From: Jon Tveite (jontv@ksu.edu)
Date: Tue Jun 17 1997 - 16:38:45 GMT
Whoops, I sent that last message out without any mention of David Foster
Wallace, making a liar out of my own subject heading. I hate when that
happens.
D.F. Wallace is a writer I am very interested in, and have been keeping an
eye on for about three years now. I wouldn't say he's a "favorite author"
just yet, but he's definitely got my attention. Because I am working full
time and also trying to finish my M.A. degree, I haven't had the time to
read _Infinite Jest_ yet. I have read, however, _Girl With Curious Hair_,
his collection of short stories -- twice, and I like it very much. Some
of the stories are a little dense and pretentious, and some are kind of
boring, but the good ones are very good. My favorite, "Westward the
Course of Empire Takes Its Way," is a sprawling novella about an historic
reunion of actors from McDonald's commercials, postmodernism (especially
John Barth), and creative writing programs, among other things, and it's
very smart, clever, and funny, and I would recommend it. Some people are
put off by his reflexive, intentionally awkward prose style, but if you
can make it through _Seymour: An Introduction_, you can handle DFW.
I've also read most of the essays in his recent collection of non-fiction,
_A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again_. The title is typical of his
writing: wordy and painfully self-conscious, but quite amusing. The
essays get even more self-indulgent than the short stories, but I haven't
read anyone lately as engaging (to me) as Wallace. So I'd say give him a
shot. Either buy _Infinite Jest_, or, if you're not too sure about that
kind of commitment, check _Girl With Curious Hair_ out from the libarary.
He's worth looking into.
Jon
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Mon Oct 09 2000 - 15:02:01 GMT