Oh, maybe? Sort of ambiguous, given the context is writing advice. If so, then there's an obvious rebuttal: the point isn't to keep you riveted, it's to commu

Oh, maybe? Sort of ambiguous, given the context is writing advice. If so, then there's an obvious rebuttal: the point isn't to keep you riveted, it's to communicate an idea. The uncle example is inapplicable because the problem with the uncle is that he is telling you an idea you don't care about, not that he's delivering true useful information in a boring way. EDIT: Also, Wikipedia links to some damning reviews of the David Foster Wallace book, including this one (yikes): http://www.rudyrucker.com/oldhomepage/wallace_review.pdf http://www.rudyrucker.com/oldhomepage/wallace_review.pdf