Dan’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2009)

Dan’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

I dunno if you can still get one new but a couple years ago you were still able to get new hardcover copies on Amazon. It's definitely worth the upgrade. My first paperback copy basically disintegrated by the end.

Well if you find it definitely post the link for us. I'd love to see it.

The only other I have seen/been able to find is this one. Be careful, it includes SPOILERS: http://biblioklept.files.wordpress.co...

Also, I can't recommend the Wallace-L listserv enough. It's old school internet technology at it's finest and jammed packed with brilliant people.

http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/dfw/...

Hey Jim is this the one you are talking about?

http://sampottsinc.com/ij/

I'll probably be ordering the full sized poster in the coming weeks. But I need to pick up Both Flesh and Not: Essays on Tuesday which will take up my DFW related monies for the week.

@sarahlizp - here are links to the two threads I remember on ebooks:

ebook debate: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

An ebooks thread!: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

I'm so glad to see so many people joining in on this group read. And Hugh, thanks for the etymology lesson. I never knew where onanism came from, nor had I made the connection to the Organization of North American Nations acronym.

The first time I read Infinite Jest I did so in paperback and I traveled with it which was a bit of a struggle. The second time I read it I did so on a Kindle and found the built in dictionary invaluable. Jumping back and forth between the text and footnotes was also a breeze. I can say that I had a better than expected experience with the Kindle.

By the time I go to the end of the paperback it was in pretty rough shape and ended up dying. I replaced it with a hardcover edition which should hold up better. The question remains whether I read the hardback or the ebook this time around.

I'm getting more and more excited as the posts keep rolling in. I don't know how I am going to stop myself from reading the whole thing for a third time. But I definitely want to make my way through Elegant Complexity, and again through Burn's David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest especially as there is a new edition out.

Oh, man. I want to so badly say yes, but don't know how I can read the book again this year.

The good news is I've got a few ancillary books that I am slowly making my way through, so I will definitely be a part of this even if only reading bits and pieces of the primary text.

Well there was a number of interested readers for Chandler a few weeks ago. Dunno what happened to them.

I wouldn't be ready to reread Infinite Jest in full since I just finished it a month ago. I would however reread sections and contribute to the conversation. I would also start reading Elegant Complexity and reread Burns' book on IJ during the group read. You would also be an excellent leader for IJ, Hugh.

May I suggest that in order to avoid spoilers and whatnot that we start a new thread and link to the old thread in the very first post?

I think that could help get things going. Whadda ya say Hugh, et al.?

I'd be glad to send a group message about starting the group read whenever you guys want. Maybe we could also make sure we message those who expressed interest.

@Adrian: I wear one as a necklace to the weekly bacchanalias I attend.

I am halfway through the first week's videos, I don't think there is anyway I am going to be able to keep up.

Hey Big Sleepers, you guys ready to get the party started on monday?

oh shit, i guess I ought to be logging in to this course sometime soon.

@Leslie: I am a HUGE Sufjan fan and I didn't even think of that connection. It mages perfect sense though. Thinking a little more about itI don't often connect specific songs to books.

Sometimes I do have jazz playing at a very very low volume. But not Miles Davis. If I have Kind of Blue playing at any volume I can't focus on the reading.

One of the things I like about Wikipedia articles are the talk pages and the edit histories. It is here you can see the battles play out as to what makes it into the article. The rules of Wikipedia are ridiculously rigid to help make Wikipedia more credible, however all too often it makes themselves look dumb.

Here is the rather long talk page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The...

The Revision history page is a bit more complicated and confusing but if you are familiar with Wikipedia at all you can gleam a lot from it, you can also compared different versions of the article. Here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...

Alright, here's a link to the poll:

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/71...

Good point Mo, it may be a good idea to do that. I'd be a participant for The Long Goodbye too.

I'll create a poll for The Big Sleep as soon as I get a chance.

I couldn't really figure out a way to condense the thread into a single thread without losing the posts from the second thread. So yeah, you're in the right place Hugh.

I'm at work right now, so I will comment more later.

I think we are still in need of a leader for that one Regan (wanna volunteer?) I am likely going to skip The Big Sleep as I was a part of the first group read we did for it.

It would probably behoove us to send a few group message reminders before starting it.