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Conversations with David Foster Wallace
Across two decades of intense creativity, David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) crafted a remarkable body of work that ranged from unclassifiable essays, to a book about transfinite mathematics, to vertiginous fictions. Whether through essay volumes ("A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Consider the Lobster"), short story collections ("Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Inte...more
Paperback, 186 pages
Published
March 8th 2012
by University Press of Mississippi
(first published 2012)
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Repetitive and seemingly dated interviews, the gist of which you've read if you've read a few interviews with him. The repetition of semi-stock responses about his novels and themes sounds after a while like ad copy that's trying to "seduce you"/persuade you into accepting DFW perception technology that helps you see the world in a smart, funny, empathetic way, but one that after a while maybe seems to skew less on the side of true complexity than something always focused on gut-level sadness of...more
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I don't get the point of this book.
The introduction is sludgy academic-ese that adds very little to what one can discern from DFW's writings.
A lot of the Q&As included are incredibly lightweight--some hardly interviews at all. These are not only repetitive, the same anecdotes recurring again and again and again, but misleading. DFW was very self-conscious, but it's wrong to call him shy, as these interviews say ad nauseum.
Only three interviews stand out, 'Looking for a Garde of Which to be A...more
The introduction is sludgy academic-ese that adds very little to what one can discern from DFW's writings.
A lot of the Q&As included are incredibly lightweight--some hardly interviews at all. These are not only repetitive, the same anecdotes recurring again and again and again, but misleading. DFW was very self-conscious, but it's wrong to call him shy, as these interviews say ad nauseum.
Only three interviews stand out, 'Looking for a Garde of Which to be A...more
The general vibe you incur when reading this book is one of sustained repetition and scrap book journalism and since many of the pieces are dated, it starts to wain and tire. I found many of the interviews moving and fascinating though and there is a real wealth of information, insight and intelligence with not only his nuanced and highly thought-out opinions but him as a person; Who for the most part is open and accessible about his own writing, influences and teaching. There is real developmen...more
This book is thoroughly enjoyable for the DFW nerd. The choice to make it chronological was brilliant and I enjoyed seeing how his view points changed throughout his life.
Do bear in mind though, that the articles inside were never meant to be read back-to back-to back, so sometimes the information became rather repetitive and kind of inspired an "enough already" vibe in this reader. This is a format issue though and due to the nature of this book series, really couldn't be avoided.
I do feel Mr....more
Do bear in mind though, that the articles inside were never meant to be read back-to back-to back, so sometimes the information became rather repetitive and kind of inspired an "enough already" vibe in this reader. This is a format issue though and due to the nature of this book series, really couldn't be avoided.
I do feel Mr....more
I agree with a previous review, that a lot of the things talked about in this anthology of interviews spanning the early 90s to the middle 00s does repeat itself in theme, but qualify that by suggesting this is not a bad thing given that DFW is interesting and is never interesting in exactly the same way when he answers questions.
As a previous reviewer did, here's a link to audio interviews he gave to KXRW throughout his career:
http://www.kcrw.com/sitesearch?Search...
Know these are as good as a...more
As a previous reviewer did, here's a link to audio interviews he gave to KXRW throughout his career:
http://www.kcrw.com/sitesearch?Search...
Know these are as good as a...more
In the wake of the passing of perhaps one of the greatest writers in the modern period, this volume (one of many to come) inaugurates a tradition of post-Wallace scholarship dedicated to dissecting and understanding the complexity with which Wallace wrote and lived.
A compilation of essays written from various perspectives, this book as whole does a neat job of placing Wallace in a balanced position in a totem pole of post-modern writers.
It serves an appropriate introduction to Wallace's though...more
A compilation of essays written from various perspectives, this book as whole does a neat job of placing Wallace in a balanced position in a totem pole of post-modern writers.
It serves an appropriate introduction to Wallace's though...more
This is a nice collection of articles, interviews and essays about David Foster Wallace's work, and DFW the person. It spans the length of his too-short career, from Broom of the System to Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. Wallace talks about the process of his writing, the purpose of Fiction and Fiction writing in America today, and how he has dealt with the literary fame he was receiving at the time.
The collection draws a fine portrait of the man and his work, but I was chagrined at the choi...more
The collection draws a fine portrait of the man and his work, but I was chagrined at the choi...more
Después de leer las entrevistas y el epílogo de este brillante libro uno empieza a entender cómo y por qué DFW escribió sus novelas, relatos, artículos y ensayos. El nivel intelectual que tenía Wallace era impresionante, pero además asombra su sencillez, perfeccionismo y honestidad reflejadas en cada entrevista. Pero también es un libro muy triste ya que vamos viendo, con el paso de los años, como la inteligencia de Wallace, que le permite tener consciencia de su mundo y de la realidad que lo ro...more
Useful though slightly uneven, as one would expect a collection like this to be. Some interviewers are better than others--news at 11.
I did get some names of authors or specific books I'd like to follow up on, on the "wonder what about that caught Wallace's attention" approach. I've found some good books that way in the past (Brian Moore's Catholics leaps to mind).
I'd already read a few of the interviews, but not all; there was a combined one, with him and Richard Powers that was unusual. It w...more
I did get some names of authors or specific books I'd like to follow up on, on the "wonder what about that caught Wallace's attention" approach. I've found some good books that way in the past (Brian Moore's Catholics leaps to mind).
I'd already read a few of the interviews, but not all; there was a combined one, with him and Richard Powers that was unusual. It w...more
A pretty neat collection of interviews. They're placed chronologically, so you can follow Wallace along as he talks about his books in order. They include a couple of transcribed radio interviews, an elongated version of Larry McCaffery's interview that appeared in The Review of Contemporary Fiction, a never-before-published interview with a French publication, and Wallace's final formal interview (which was with the Wall Street Journal).
It's fun to read about his inspirations, his guiding princ...more
It's fun to read about his inspirations, his guiding princ...more
The interviews contained herein are - by numbers - almost exactly half-fascinating, half-banal beyond words. Luckily the longer interviews are not only the interesting ones, but also the more obscure ones - at least in terms of online availability.
As may be obvious, this book will be boring beyond all reasonable measure for all but those with intense interest in DFW's work.
As may be obvious, this book will be boring beyond all reasonable measure for all but those with intense interest in DFW's work.
I've read most of these interviews at some point over the last 8 or so years since I've been reading Wallace. But reading them in the order they were given was an interesting experience that shows the evolution of Wallace's thoughts through the years. For as much as Wallace claimed to be an uninteresting interviewee, this collection shows that he was actually at his best when given space to open up and talk freely about topics important to him.
The collection isn't revelatory as a whole, you've heard this stuff before, but damn it is a pleasure to revisit his voice. I especially like the frustrated and obviously annoyed but still aiming toward sincere reactions to that arrogant and rather dim French man Didier Jacob's questions. And the McCaffery interview is as essential as ever.
If you like DFW, you'll probably like these interviews. Some of them are very heavy on theory, which I don't enjoy much anymore. If I saw a sentence with the words "post-structuralism" and "mimetic" and "modalities," I skipped it without regrets.
I enjoyed Wallace's insights into the writing process the most, and would have loved all the academic stuff when I was in college. It's just not what I read anymore. But as a fan of DFW, this was a worthwhile read.
I enjoyed Wallace's insights into the writing process the most, and would have loved all the academic stuff when I was in college. It's just not what I read anymore. But as a fan of DFW, this was a worthwhile read.
For the first time in months, I have finished a book. According to my log, this is my 14th read book in 2012. We are almost at the midpoint of the year. At this rate, I am on track to have read roughly 30 books by the end of December.
For comparison's sake, I read 80 books in 2011, 80 books in 2010, and 50 books in 2009.
Christ.
For comparison's sake, I read 80 books in 2011, 80 books in 2010, and 50 books in 2009.
Christ.
My mind is already spinning from the "marooned in your own skull" solipsism that this dude painstakingly battled throughout his life and in his work.
His flavor of sincerity already seems dated by the influx of future-shocked hipster ethos that pointedly reject the "new sincerity" movement in favor of hauntology.
His flavor of sincerity already seems dated by the influx of future-shocked hipster ethos that pointedly reject the "new sincerity" movement in favor of hauntology.
See my comments in my "First Looks" column for Fiction Writers Review. (based on a review copy obtained through NetGalley)
A series of interviews he did with various people. He was young, and sometimes this shows. But damn, he had an interesting mind. Since he's not around to write new things we must pick out gems from thes older books. And there are a lot of gems.
I found it interesting to read this after reading Max's bio, and to trace the arc of deception w/r/t AA. It's also interesting to watch DFW go from incredibly good to really terrible interview subject, and back.
A lot of interviews to David Foster Wallace from the beginning to his tragic end. As a fan I loved to read them, because they are difficoult to find in Italy, and it was particulary interesting the way they eveolved as the years go by.
THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND UNVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPI FOR THE PREVIEW
Una serie di interviste rilasciate da D.F.W. nel corso della sua carriera, dagli inizi alla sua tragica fine. Come lettrice mi è piaciuto molto leggere alcune delle sue spiegazioni ai libri stess...more
THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND UNVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPI FOR THE PREVIEW
Una serie di interviste rilasciate da D.F.W. nel corso della sua carriera, dagli inizi alla sua tragica fine. Come lettrice mi è piaciuto molto leggere alcune delle sue spiegazioni ai libri stess...more
After I read one of these interviews, every thing I look at is a short story. DFW inspires me to write in earnest.
Probably best read one-at-a-time, over time.
Probably best read one-at-a-time, over time.
A wonderful introduction to the work of David Foster Wallace. Once you get to know the person, you will recognize his soul in all his works.
It's amazing how many of these are puff pieces, and how short they are. Rather disappointed - a lot of these are transcripts of shows where there's a great deal of chatter about time remaining and Timely Topics. The somewhat gruesomely named Last Interview is coming out this December or something, maybe it'll be better. I think the intro said there are about seventy DFW interviews extant - beats me why they didn't transcribe some of the better long ones on UTU, like the fucking epic one that's i...more
He was an eloquent fellow. I'm afraid that the corpus of my interviews would be decidedly less illuminating.
Books like this just break one's heart all over again. Good interviews. Sad outcome...
May 03, 2013
Jesse
added it
-
Not anything a real DFW fan hasn't read before, but it's still worth returning to the brilliant man's words and ideas. Some of the early interviews are really fascinating - especially the pre Infinite Jest conversations when he talks about the work he's doing and you can feel his frustration and excitement.
Worthwhile, but only if you're a certified nerd like me.
Worthwhile, but only if you're a certified nerd like me.
Sep 15, 2012
Bamboo
added it
p.s. Birthday present
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