The Task of This Translator
by Todd Hasak-Lowy
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DFW fans
Indulge me for a second. We're going to play a game of literary differentiation. I'll post a few passages from a book below, and you tell me if the passage was written by Todd Hasak-Lowy or David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest.
Ready?
1. Keep in mind that that the guy asking most of the questions sweats a great deal, as in constantly, as in he would cause the makeup/sweat artist for Gatorade ads to fear for his or her job. He sweats so much he long ago stopped paying it much notice, so the sweat simply flows, runs, he perspires freely, wetting his collar, undershirts, tie, even his jacket, which he has kept on for this meeting knowing too well what the sight of wet spots under his arm extending well past his elbows would do to this potential employee.
2. Keith's father died of a heart attack at 2:58 A.M. on a Tuesday morning, so it was officially Wednesday, though in Keith's father's mind it was still Tuesday because he hadn't yet gone to sleep, ot hadn't yet been able to fall asleep, though he had briefly tried a couple hours before he died.
3. I'm hungry. I say to myself, over and over, that word "peckish." I consider the etymology of the term. Does it, like "gnawing hunger," express the way hunger tirelessly tells you you're hungry? Because I am. Hungry, I mean. I got up too early, I underate at lunch. And I'm bored. Whether Ron likes it or not, I'm getting a snack at the break. A naughty snack. ...more
Ready?
1. Keep in mind that that the guy asking most of the questions sweats a great deal, as in constantly, as in he would cause the makeup/sweat artist for Gatorade ads to fear for his or her job. He sweats so much he long ago stopped paying it much notice, so the sweat simply flows, runs, he perspires freely, wetting his collar, undershirts, tie, even his jacket, which he has kept on for this meeting knowing too well what the sight of wet spots under his arm extending well past his elbows would do to this potential employee.
2. Keith's father died of a heart attack at 2:58 A.M. on a Tuesday morning, so it was officially Wednesday, though in Keith's father's mind it was still Tuesday because he hadn't yet gone to sleep, ot hadn't yet been able to fall asleep, though he had briefly tried a couple hours before he died.
3. I'm hungry. I say to myself, over and over, that word "peckish." I consider the etymology of the term. Does it, like "gnawing hunger," express the way hunger tirelessly tells you you're hungry? Because I am. Hungry, I mean. I got up too early, I underate at lunch. And I'm bored. Whether Ron likes it or not, I'm getting a snack at the break. A naughty snack. ...more
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Read in July, 2008
i like "will power, inc." esp. the part where the man is eating other people's dessert and his 'guardian' grabs his wrist and makes him drop the spoon.
i also like the interview story where the interviewer asks the interviewee what the university trained him to say when answering the questions. it made me think 'what if everytime i interviewed for a job, i told the absolute truth; would i ever get a job?" like people are so used to those little lies that the truth is shocking, k
i also like the interview story where the interviewer asks the interviewee what the university trained him to say when answering the questions. it made me think 'what if everytime i interviewed for a job, i told the absolute truth; would i ever get a job?" like people are so used to those little lies that the truth is shocking, k
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Read in September, 2007
I am tempted to say, "I liked each story more than the last." I'm not sure if this is patently true. But after the first story, I thought, "I like this." And by the end, I liked it extremely. "The End of Larry's Wallet" is perhaps my favorite.
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I enjoyed these stories very much. I picked up my copy in a used bookstore because the title caught my eye. I used to not like short stories, but this book helped me fall in love with them all over again.
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Read in April, 2006
recommends it for:
Lydia Davis, Lorrie Moore
I like this book. I am giving it 5 stars.
I read this book in the basement of a house in Jersey City, New Jersey.
I was alone but I grinned a lot and read a lot of it at one time.
I read this book in the basement of a house in Jersey City, New Jersey.
I was alone but I grinned a lot and read a lot of it at one time.
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my old friend from elementary school is the author! i hear its very funny.
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Read in March, 2005
fantastic short stories! i've been waiting for more from this excellent writer.
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