Further Proof of the Evil Nature of D.F.W.

[Matt Treyvaud]

On Fri, 11 Dec 1998 Cchoskin at aol.com wrote:

> Was not aware that this DFW person was evil.  However, tried to read his
> book (my wife receives many free books) and finally got bored with it
> and quit.  I had heard rumors of this guy being mentioned in the same
> breath as P. but was not impressed. 

If you ask me, the only reason he gets mentioned in the same breath as
Pynchon is because, like 'Gravity's Rainbow', 'Infinite Jest' deals with
technology, is a sort of neo-quest myth, and has so many characters and
sub-plots that it takes a long time (300? pages in IJ's case) before they
all start to form a cohesive uber-story. That, and he has a postmodern
sensibility with a tendency towards magical realism and absurdism (both of
which he really lets fly in his short stories). 

Aside from similar intentions and ideas, his -writing- is, I find, very
different from Pynchon. Much more different than even DeLillo is, say.

> If he is evil that would correlate with the impression I received from
> his "book".  Cheers,

Personally I think he's just mildly misanthropic, but then most of my
favourite writers are/were.

Matt

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 Matt Treyvaud, Abbr. Prim.                       (R.I.P. Kerry Thornley)
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