Endnotes: David Foster Wallace

[rich]

Hi Tore--

You still haven't told me if you liked Valhalla Rising ;)

Anyway, yes I think IJ was the American novel of the 90's but I think
his short stories were uneven, to the brilliance of Girl with the
Curious Hair and John Billy to the dull minimalism of Brief
Encounters. Oblivion seemed labored to me. In some sense I am looking
fwd to reading The Pale King, another novel to be more specific.

I dont think he published enough and I would say he has the respect
which he deserves but would never label him as mainstream

and shouldnt leave out some of the great essays he wrote

he exhibited as much range as Pynchon (at least in IJ) and I will
always remember the book fondly as to time and place mid-90s post
college angst and drug withdrawals, etc.

rich

On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 2:03 PM, Tore Rye Andersen <torerye at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> rich:
>
>> DFW had alot of talent but I'm not sure he will ever be seen as
>> translating that talent into more than a cult figure following
>
> Surely DFW had more than just talent? I remember you calling Infinite Jest "the novel of the
> 90es," and I tend to agree. And doesn't it take more than just talent to write the novel of the decade?
>
> As for the cult following, DFW has garnered both more mainstream and more academic attention these past
> couple-three years than Pynchon. Of course this partly has to do with the suicide, but I'd say that the intrinsic
> merit of his work also has a lot to do with it.
>
> Tore
>