4 ms·

Highly recommend David Foster Wallace for this. After Infinite Jest I was definitely had much higher general empathy for months.

arethuza 11y ago
I heard the section about Erdedy preparing for a drug binge on a BBC Radio 4 arts review program and was fascinated - I've never used drugs and have no desire to start but there is something very powerful about the sections of IJ that cover addiction.
tptacek 11y ago
A good David Foster Wallace starting point is "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again". I'd tentatively recommend against starting with Infinite Jest. Infinite Jest is a project of a read.
- edanm 11y ago
  Are you referring to the essay, or the essay collection? Also, isn't he more well known for fiction (e.g. IJ) than non-fiction? I'm also wondering where to start, having never read his books before but having heard a lot about them.
  - tptacek 11y ago
    The essay collection. He's probably marginally better known as an essayist than as a novelist, except that his one famous novel (IJ) is one of the giant novels of the last 30 years. After IJ, the most impactful works of fiction he's produced are short story collections, and while I like them, they aren't the most pleasant reads. The right way to approach DFW is to read his essays for awhile, and, if you find that you enjoy them, you can look at IJ as a long series of essays from an alternate universe.
    - idlewords 11y ago
      I think Infinite Jest is a giant novel only in the most literal sense. Otherwise it's just terrible (though I know you and some other people I respect disagree strongly). The point is, don't feel sad and alone if you like Wallace's non-fiction and find yourself hating his novels.
      - tptacek 11y ago
        I like Infinite Jest the way I like R.E.M.'s "Murmur", in the sense that I can understand how either might fall apart at close inspection, but both are so effective at generating a mood for me that I have no motivation to do that. I like the way DFW writes, but I'll happily cop to liking his essays more than his nonfiction. And again the short stories are unpleasant; sort of like how Elliott Smith can only seem to write songs that are at bottom about heroin addiction, DFW can only seem to write stories that are about how unhappy he is with the kind of person he is. Also, DFW has sort of become a nerd literary signifier, a way of saying "once upon a time I put down the Xbox controller and picked up a Great Book". He didn't do anything to solicit that response, so I'm a bit wary about nerds sniping at him, because, hipsterism. Everyone should go read Master And Margarita first.
        idlewords 11y ago
        This is a really nice way to put it. I assume you meant to write "liking his essays more than his fiction"?
- roymurdock 11y ago
  "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men" is also a great starting point if you want to get a sense of his darkly humorous fiction. Although, he embellishes and invents so many things in his non-fiction pieces that they straddle the line pretty nicely as well.

arethuza 11y ago

I heard the section about Erdedy preparing for a drug binge on a BBC Radio 4 arts review program and was fascinated - I've never used drugs and have no desire to start but there is something very powerful about the sections of IJ that cover addiction.

tptacek 11y ago

A good David Foster Wallace starting point is "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again". I'd tentatively recommend against starting with Infinite Jest. Infinite Jest is a project of a read.

edanm 11y ago
Are you referring to the essay, or the essay collection? Also, isn't he more well known for fiction (e.g. IJ) than non-fiction? I'm also wondering where to start, having never read his books before but having heard a lot about them.
- tptacek 11y ago
  The essay collection. He's probably marginally better known as an essayist than as a novelist, except that his one famous novel (IJ) is one of the giant novels of the last 30 years. After IJ, the most impactful works of fiction he's produced are short story collections, and while I like them, they aren't the most pleasant reads. The right way to approach DFW is to read his essays for awhile, and, if you find that you enjoy them, you can look at IJ as a long series of essays from an alternate universe.
  - idlewords 11y ago
    I think Infinite Jest is a giant novel only in the most literal sense. Otherwise it's just terrible (though I know you and some other people I respect disagree strongly). The point is, don't feel sad and alone if you like Wallace's non-fiction and find yourself hating his novels.
    - tptacek 11y ago
      I like Infinite Jest the way I like R.E.M.'s "Murmur", in the sense that I can understand how either might fall apart at close inspection, but both are so effective at generating a mood for me that I have no motivation to do that. I like the way DFW writes, but I'll happily cop to liking his essays more than his nonfiction. And again the short stories are unpleasant; sort of like how Elliott Smith can only seem to write songs that are at bottom about heroin addiction, DFW can only seem to write stories that are about how unhappy he is with the kind of person he is. Also, DFW has sort of become a nerd literary signifier, a way of saying "once upon a time I put down the Xbox controller and picked up a Great Book". He didn't do anything to solicit that response, so I'm a bit wary about nerds sniping at him, because, hipsterism. Everyone should go read Master And Margarita first.
      - idlewords 11y ago
        This is a really nice way to put it. I assume you meant to write "liking his essays more than his fiction"?
roymurdock 11y ago
"Brief Interviews With Hideous Men" is also a great starting point if you want to get a sense of his darkly humorous fiction. Although, he embellishes and invents so many things in his non-fiction pieces that they straddle the line pretty nicely as well.