false 6753 16 Amid the screams of adulation for bandanna-clad wunderkind David Foster Wallace, you might hear a small peep. It is the cry for some restraint. On occasion the reader is left in the dust wondering where the story went, as the author, literary turbochargers on full-blast, suddenly accelerates into the wild-blue-footnoted yonder in pursuit of some obscure metafictional fancy. <I>Brief Interviews with Hideous Men</I>, Wallace's latest collection, is at least in part a response to the distress signal put out by the many readers who <I>want</I> to ride along with him, if he'd only slow down for a second.<p> The intellectual gymnastics and ceaseless rumination endure (if you don't have a tolerance for that kind of thing, your nose doesn't belong in this book), but they are for the most part couched in simpler, less frenzied narratives. The book's four-piece namesake takes the form of interview transcripts, in which the conniving horror that is the male gender is revealed in all of its licentious glory. In the short, two-part "The Devil Is a Busy Man," Wallace strolls through the Hall of Mirrors that is human motivation. (Is it possible to completely rid an act of generosity of any self-serving benefits? And why is it easier to sell a couch for five dollars than it is to give it away for free?) The even shorter glimpse into modern-day social ritual, "A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life," stretches the seams of its total of seven lines with scathing economy: "She laughed extremely hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces." Wallace also imbues his extreme observational skills with a haunting poetic sensibility. Witness what he does to a diving board and the two darkened patches at the end of it in "Forever Overhead": <blockquote> It's going to send you someplace which its own length keeps you from seeing, which seems wrong to submit to without even thinking.... They are skin abraded from feet by the violence of the disappearance of people with real weight. </blockquote> Of course, not every piece is an absolute winner. "The Depressed Person" slips from purposefully clinical to unintentionally boring. "Tri-Stan: I Sold Sissee Nar to Ecko" reimagines an Arthurian tale in MTV terms and holds your attention for about as long as you'd imagine from such a description. Ultimately, however, even these failed experiments are a testament to Mr. Wallace's endless if unbridled talent. Once he gets the reins completely around that sucker, it's going to be quite a ride. <I>--Bob Michaels</I> 1221616 1999 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men total:2755|5:644|4:1065|3:734|2:229|1:83| 2755 10223 4187 286 3 6 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Apr 05 11:11:54 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 06 07:33:01 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Sep 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 10:08:55 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 08:44:13 -0700 2009 5 3 false false Wed Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 21:32:48 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 22:03:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 12:00:41 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 16 13:52:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 20 09:37:23 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 05 06:55:51 -0800 2008 Mon Oct 20 09:37:23 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Mon Nov 19 01:53:01 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 19 02:24:53 -0800 2007 The Devil is a B...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Nov 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Oct 26 09:30:58 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 26 09:56:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Mon Mar 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 19:10:23 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 19:10:40 -0700 2009 I understand what this book is supposed to be, and it’s very eye-opening to note what he is doing/trying to do/succeeding to do in any ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Oct 09 15:11:49 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 16:19:46 -0700 2009
This is the first time I've won one of the first reads giveaways, so I was particularly excited when my copy arrived in the mail. This is also my first David Foster Wallace book. Infinite Jest sits intimidating me on my ever growing to-read shelf. Brief Interviews with Hi...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Sep 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 14:17:05 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 14:19:21 -0700 2009 STOP SMILING review/essay about the film adaptation of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men:



In John Krasinski’s film of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, many of the Interviews are conducted at a desk, in front of a bare wall, with a microphone and pitcher of water — l...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 11:42:32 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 13:39:53 -0700 2009 This (along with "Good People") is probably the best introduction to DFW's fiction that I've found, featuring pretty-short stories in a bunch of different styles and voices. You're pretty much guaranteed to find one that you'll fall in love with, like one of the titular interviews or his s...

more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Jun 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 21:45:46 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 22:04:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Tue Oct 06 07:19:26 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 08:47:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 20:09:26 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 23:51:12 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 13 09:55:09 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 09:17:21 -0800 2009 I read the first story in Brie...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 11:07:44 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 11:45:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 14:18:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 14:18:17 -0700 2009 store and buying European...

I probably should have waited a while after IJ but it seemed...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Dec 17 15:47:45 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 18:04:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 17 09:17:32 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 09:28:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Sep 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 12:55:54 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 13:00:43 -0700 2009 more...]]>