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Amazon.co.uk Review
David Foster Wallace is every other writer's nightmare; not only is he depressingly young (34), superbly prolific (six books so far) and notably gifted (at least three major literary prizes to date), he's also good-looking and, so they say, charming. Now this Midwestern wunderkind has added to his ever-growing reputation by bringing out a short-story collection which, while it has its flaws (too intellectual in places, somewhat over-written in others), is still a few streets ahead of the competition in its versatility, panache and verbal ebullience.
The varying length of the stories in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men indicate the range of Wallace's writing. Some, like the funny/dark "Death Is Not The End", about a gifted American writer (ha) lounging by his pool in suspended space-time, are no more than two pages long. Others are just paragraphs. By contrast, the title story is a 100-page-long suite of "conversations" with a series of repellent yet pitiable men given to lyrically reminiscing about "the sort of glorious girl whose kiss tastes of liquor when she's had no liquor to drink". The pay-off is that this girl might have been raped and murdered by one of the "hideous men" in question.
Wallace's prose-style is as various as the length, tone and subject matter. Sometime he's like Will Self in his wordy self-confidence. Other times he's as coarsely comedic as Irvine Welsh ("the rawness and tenderness and spanked pink head of his thingie"). Still other times, like in the deft and amusing parody of dictionary-speak, Datum Centurio, the only possible comparison is with a talkative James Joyce after two bottles of champagne. --Sean Thomas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
His skills as a literary innovator are immense...this is an entertaining and dazzlingly innovative work...a dizzying gallop actoss the wild frontier of contemporary fiction. (DAILY TELEGRAPH )
Endlessly inventive (EVENING STANDARD )
Exceptionally clever (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
As clever and intriguing as Wallace's past work (THE TIMES )
Endlessly inventive (EVENING STANDARD )
Exceptionally clever (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
As clever and intriguing as Wallace's past work (THE TIMES )
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When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Following Jest was, to me,a nearly insurmountable task. However, DFW does a more than amazing job. The writing in this book is funny and perfectly serious all at once. Particularly the Brief Interviews sections-they had me laughing out loud and nearly resenting my laughter. if you've never read DFW before this is a good place to start. You get him in story-length dosages and this collection is, in fact, a good precursor to reading Jest, despite the fact that it was published years after.He really takes the modern concept of the story further than nearly anyone I've ever read. You'll enjoy this. Trust me.
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I cannot think of any other current writer more in touch with the spirit of the times than Wallace. He's most certainly of the cerebral type (equally adept at neurocognitive science and post-post-whatever literary theory), and the undisputed master of hard-tech US english. "Brief Interviews..." is merciless in its portrayal of the human condition - and it is sometimes difficult to discern whether your laughter is due to pure literary pleasure, or desperate self-defense in the face of a truth too nasty to bear. Wallace is basically tracking and describing the ongoing redistribution of the meaning of "being human", and anyone even remotely interested in which direction we are all headed should check out his books. At times brutal and bleak - but not without a certain tender regard for the fragile creatures lost in the information-saturated cultural wastelands of high modernity.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Intelligent, cerebral and darkly comic; this book is all these things. David Foster Wallace's collection of shorts (some very short) will shock and amaze, but is for the commited only.
Wallace reaches almost Joycean levels of impenetrability from time to time, and is from the "hurts so much let's pretend it's funny" school of comedy. Although, I can't quite think of a moment while reading the book when I laughed, rather than just raising a wry eyebrow.
This is excellent stuff, and should be read - just don't expect to (makes reflexive air quote gesture) "enjoy" it in the traditional sense.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Intoxicating
I often find myself marveling at DFW's intelligence, his self-confidence and composure. This collection sustains those instincts and my admiration of his work.
Published 10 months ago by Roland Boland
gimicky
So, I have been a fan of David Foster Wallace since reading a book of his essays. Broom of the System is great and I really enjoyed Oblivion stories. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. Omnibus Biscuit
Difficult but great
I laughed, I cringed, I giggled guiltily. I muttered. I fought with it. It's hard work reading it, but you come away a richer person. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Anton Gourman
Writing without portfolio
Not a comfortable or an easy book, Brief Interviews is not even a short story collection in conventional terms. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
The Future of Fiction
This is truly a book for our times, and Wallace is the one contemporary writer who seems to hit the mark with everything he does. Read more
Published on 11 July 2004 by Adam Kelly
Buy it
Moments of utter genius in this eg first page-pure truth. (Witty philosophical beautiful universal.) Chapter two, two sentence poetical living organism/stunning. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2002 by Adrian Lever
Another entertaining read from the master of wordplay
Another collection of short stories from Wallace, although to my mind the majority of the pieces contained within this book are observations rather than actual stories. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2000
A few decent stories, most are disappointing
I had been eagerly waiting for this book to come out. I loved "A Supposedly.." and enjoyed "Broom" and parts of "Infinite. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 1999
A glorious vacation
This book will always bring back memories for me of sunny days in Tuscany, good wine, good conversation. Read more
Published on 23 July 1999
Thank you Mr. Wallace!!
I don't generally read fiction. I prefer biographies, autobiographies, and occasionally I'll wade into philosophies...but I discovered Mr. Read more
Published on 19 July 1999
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