Rake's self-interview on supposedly washed up DFW

[Ya Sam]

from the litblog Rake's Progress

http://www.rakesprogress.com/rakes_progress/2006/08/a_hideous_inter.html#more

"Q. Is David Foster Wallace washed up?

A. I doubt it.  It’s just taking a dismayingly long time for him to follow 
up Infinite Jest with another novel.  Further, DFW’s (rare) public 
statements on the subject—notably in a joint appearance/conversation with 
Rick Moody—suggest that it’s not worth holding yer breath for a third novel 
to appear.

Q. Novel, schmovel.  You’ve gotten the short stories of Oblivion and the 
Consider the Lobster essays out of Mister Wallace in the last couple years.  
And this is not to mention his delightful recent essay on Roger Federer, 
available for free at the New York Times.  J.D. Salinger, he is not.  What’s 
your beef, pal? "

[...]

"... Look, I think DFW’s short fiction is quite hit-or-miss, and I often 
find myself disappointed by it.  He seems to succumb to his worst impulses 
in short stories, leading to tedious shaggy dog stuff (“Westward the Course 
of Empire Takes Its Way”), sterile, math-y, exposed-clockworks material 
(“Adult Word (II)”), and sojourns into voice/jargon that obfuscate rather 
than elucidate (“Mister Squishy”).

And the repetitions in his essays don’t really bother me, either. As a point 
of comparison, I have a great respect for Murakami and Steve Erickson, who 
both re-use material and also manage (like Ezra Pound sez) to make it new.  
Also, I dig the voice of the implied narrator in DFW’s essays—it’s a 
charming companion, so I’ll no doubt enjoy all future DFW essays until 
doomsday, when an aged and ink-stained Wallace is hand-cranking them out on 
an old mimeograph machine in the flickering candlelight of our dystopian 
nightmare."

[...]

"And even if there’s no novel coming soon or ever, DFW’s previous work is 
ripe for reassessment.  I mean, have I really gotten to the bottom of 
Infinite Jest, after reading it just once?  Also, there’s Oblivion, which I 
have a sneaking suspicion is better than I found it on first blush, even if 
some of it might be beyond rehabilitation. "

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