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Loading... Brief Interviews With Hideous Men: Storiesby David Foster Wallace
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  katieinseattle | Jan 22, 2010 |  Some of these stories are an exercise in redundancy and are totally unnecessary, which is why this doesn't get a 5. That said, there are at least three stories in here that blew my skull straight open. "Octet" is amazing, if also redundant, and then there's this other one written in a really lyrical style whose name I forget but is awesome. The first story is great too. (  )1  phette23 | Oct 19, 2009 | A not terribly successful experiment at postmodern ficton. There are really not stories being told in some cases, and even those that qualify are basically narration describing action or thought. I thought it was disappointing overall, although 'The Depressed Person' might allow the reader to speculate how Wallace's own depression might have informed the story. I found the 'Hideous Men' sections tedious. I enjoyed 'Infinite Jest' and Wallace's essays, so I was rather surprised that this one fell flat with me. ( )1 nog | Jul 8, 2009 | A collection of stories by DFW, the quality of which differs greatly from one another. (  ) DieterBoehm | Jun 23, 2009 | Experimental, self-indulgent, deeply insightful, annoying, obstinate, and, at many points, wonderful. (  ) jorgearanda | May 31, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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The intellectual gymnastics and ceaseless rumination endure (if you don't have a tolerance for that kind of thing, your nose doesn't belong in this book), but they are for the most part couched in simpler, less frenzied narratives. The book's four-piece namesake takes the form of interview transcripts, in which the conniving horror that is the male gender is revealed in all of its licentious glory. In the short, two-part "The Devil Is a Busy Man," Wallace strolls through the Hall of Mirrors that is human motivation. (Is it possible to completely rid an act of generosity of any self-serving benefits? And why is it easier to sell a couch for five dollars than it is to give it away for free?) The even shorter glimpse into modern-day social ritual, "A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life," stretches the seams of its total of seven lines with scathing economy: "She laughed extremely hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces." Wallace also imbues his extreme observational skills with a haunting poetic sensibility. Witness what he does to a diving board and the two darkened patches at the end of it in "Forever Overhead":
It's going to send you someplace which its own length keeps you from seeing, which seems wrong to submit to without even thinking.... They are skin abraded from feet by the violence of the disappearance of people with real weight.Of course, not every piece is an absolute winner. "The Depressed Person" slips from purposefully clinical to unintentionally boring. "Tri-Stan: I Sold Sissee Nar to Ecko" reimagines an Arthurian tale in MTV terms and holds your attention for about as long as you'd imagine from such a description. Ultimately, however, even these failed experiments are a testament to Mr. Wallace's endless if unbridled talent. Once he gets the reins completely around that sucker, it's going to be quite a ride. --Bob Michaels
(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:12:51 -0500)
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Overall, my impression is that it's an uneven collection, but if you're smarter than me you might get more out of it, and regardless, there's enough here to make the whole thing well worthwhile. (Also, if you've read it and you're smarter than me, please do send me a note, as I'd truly love to hear what someone else makes of the ones I didn't understand.) (