Very nice collection. Even nicer the audio book version read by Wallace himself! Such as sitting with him reading. I loved "The View From Mrs. Tompson's" on 9-11 and the vastness of "americankind"...
Big Red Son ☆☆☆☆
Some Remarks on Kafka's Funniness... ☆☆☆☆
Authority and American Usage ☆☆☆☆☆
How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart ☆☆☆☆
Up, Simba ☆☆☆
Consider the Lobster ☆☆☆☆
"It’s hard to get good answers to why Young Voters are so uninterested in politics. This is probably because it’s next to impossible to get someone to think hard about why he’s not interested in something. The boredom itself preempts inquiry; the fact of the feeling’s enough. Surely one reason, though, is that politics is not cool. Or say rather that cool, interesting, alive people do not seem to be the ones who are drawn to the political process. Think back to the sort of kids in high school who were into running for student office: dweeby, overgroomed, obsequious to authority, ambitious in a sad way. Eager to play the Game. The kind of kids other kids would want to beat up if it didn’t seem so pointless and dull. And now consider some of 2000’s adult versions of these very same kids: Al Gore, best described by CNN sound tech Mark A. as “amazingly lifelike”; Steve Forbes, with his wet forehead and loony giggle; G. W. Bush’s patrician smirk and mangled cant; even Clinton himself, with his big red fake-friendly face and “I feel your pain.” Men who aren’t enough like human beings even to hate — what one feels when they loom into view is just an overwhelming lack of interest, the sort of deep disengagement that is often a defense against pain. Against sadness. In fact, the likeliest reason why so many of us care so little about politics is that modern politicians make us sad, hurt us deep down in ways that are hard even to name, much less talk about. It’s way easier to roll your eyes and not give a shit. You probably don’t want to hear about all this, even."
...ContinuaDavid Foster Wallace is an astounding writer. So clever and with so much humanity. The piece on 9/11 is incredibly moving in a refreshing way. Also an hilarious/disturbing piece on the annual porno awards night in las vegas and a revealing article about the psychology of a professional tennis player.
Some of the essays were a bit dense for my tastes, but the above 3 are some of the most amazing non-fiction I have ever read. The title piece Consider the Lobster is a good companion essay to Eating Animals by Jontathon Safran Foer
...Continua
