Girl with Curious Hair: Stories

This book is very clever because every story is post-something. Little Expressionless Animals, Lydon, My Appearance- Post-Delillo. Luckily...- post Beckett. Girl with curious Hair- post-Easton Ellis. John Billy- post-Faulkner. Here and There- post writing workshop (okay, that's a stretch.) Say Never- post Roth. Everything is Green- I really don't know, but induction says that this, too, is post-something. And the mother of all the posts, 'Westward the Course of Empire,' is post-Barth (unfortunately John and not Karl.) Yes, all very clever. And sometimes moving. Here's how it works: each story pretends to be hip and ironic and post-modern, then whups you upside the head with deep, undeniable sentiment.

The problem with all this is that show more people who don't know DeLillo, Becket, Easton Ellis, Roth, Barth etc... won't get why they should care about the ironizing of irony bits that start each story, and are unlikely to feel the whup when they are whupped. I quite liked the book, but it's hard for me to say why anyone who isn't deeply interested in literary polemic would bother reading it. The prose styles are pretty good, and there's an impressive range of them, sure. As I may have mentioned, it's all very clever. It's the sort of thing that makes me want to write an essay. Before you go buy this because he's important and dead, ask yourself: am I the kind of person who often reads books and is inspired to write essays about them? Because if you're not, buy DFW's essays. They don't inspire me to write; they inspire me to read.

Also be aware that DFW himself said, re: Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way, "25 year olds should be denied access to pen and paper."

Also, I'm particularly cranky because I read Barth's story, 'Lost in the Funhouse,' to prepare for reading Westward. As bad as Westward is, it's the better of the two. No thanks for getting me to read that dreck, David, wherever you are. show less

I don't know what it was about the general tone/emotional impact of this book that I enjoyed so much less than Brief Interviews or Oblivion. I was left cold by the titular story, as well as "Everything's Green." "Say Never" seemed left over from Brief Interviews, and it was better. Especially enjoyed the juxtaposition of perspectives, which I can't remember reading in any other story by Wallace, but again, it left an overall sort of bad taste in my mouth. After a promising beginning, "Westward..." petered out. "My Appearance" was the stand-out, with the most nuanced characterization.

I'm going to say some stuff here sort of off the cuff, as it's been a long time since I read his other two short story collections. But I think Wallace is a show more pretty moral short story writer. I think, as technically pretentious as some of his stories get, and even though there is little outright judgment/analysis, each one ends with an unstated but pretty clear moral message. Maybe less so in Oblivion than Brief Interviews or Girl. That's great. I'll take a moralizer over an absurdist/post-modernist any day. But Girl, unlike the other two, seemed messy and snarky as well as high-handed, and that's sort of a strange combination. I guess I mean that this collection seems to lack Wallace's usual sensitivity.

I'll return to this, but not before finishing The Pale King. show less

Always good, and occasionally great. The titular story was my favourite - A Confederacy of Dunces on crack - but there are plenty of other highlights, like the imagined-but-all-too-real Lyndon, or the gruffly heartfelt John Billy. The final section, a novella, gives glimpses of what was to come with Infinite Jest - and as with that book, you'll either love it, or hate it.

David Foster Wallace delivers some beautiful commentary on modern culture through fiction. While some readers may find these stories difficult to get through, it's worth the effort to follow the satire on both American culture (fast food, television, musical, political .. he covers them all in different stories) as well as literature. I admit that there were times I found the avant-garde writing style confusing or disorienting, but as I kept reading the seemingly disconnected fragments became meaningful. If you're looking for a quick fun-filled read, this is not the book. The stories are well constructed and will take some thought to fully unfold and understand, but that's what I like most about DFW's writing: it always stays with me show more when I close the book. show less

It's a formative work, pocked with moments of brilliance that haven't quite found the best way to orient themselves yet. Still, early-DFW beats the pants off of most late-whatevers.

Racconti di Wallace che, come tutti gli scritti di Wallace, non riesco a leggere tutto d'un fiato.
Amo D.F. Wallace, me ne sono innamorata leggendo una sua intervista, anni fa. Si era già suicidato.
Non è una lettura scorrevole, vi sono riferimenti ad eventi e personaggi estranei alla nostra cultura. Descrive la televisione americana, le strade americane, gli americani. Uno per uno. E ne fa ritratti talmente reali da fare sembrare ogni personaggio uno psicopatico. Ma è proprio così che è. E' proprio così che siamo.
Amo D.F. Wallace, ma questi racconti, dopo aver letto La ragazza dai capelli strani (che per inciso ha una chioma scolpita a forma di pene sulla testa, enorme), faccio decantare un po' le parole e, per il momento, passo show more ad altro. Fino a quando sentirò la mancanza struggente di D.F. Wallace e della sua ironica tristezza e me ne farò un'altra dose. show less

I did not fully understand almost all of this book (or, I sort-of understood most of this book.) If you're prepared for that, you may find this to be more than a three star book. My previous D.F. Wallace experience consists solely of "Consider the Lobster", which I greatly enjoyed.

Part of why I found this so hard to understand (and to enjoy) is that it really is a meta-meta-book, fiction-that-is-not-fiction-that-is. And I think Wallace was well aware of that; but it is hard to take, all the same. The book is rooted in, and a protest against/mocking of, a literary culture (or long fad?) that is now, at least in part, sailing into the past. And good riddance...

But, if you do enjoy postmodern (or is this post-post-modern) lit, then again, show more this might be more to your liking. show less