Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself

I was surprised at how quickly I flew through this book. I think I was expecting it to be as heavy as Infinite Jest, but at a slim 300 pages this book a nice fast read. I had seen the movie, The End of The Tour, last year and loved it. Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself is the transcript turned book that the movie is based off of. Former Rolling Stones journalist, David Lipsky, got to spend five days with author, David Foster Wallace at the end of his Infinite Jest book tour and he recorded hours of conversation and comments. This book is a transcript of all their various musings. Anything from dogs, to Last of the Mohicans, to the writing process, and suicide was covered and it touches on a little bit of everything and is fascinating to read. Wallace speaks as eloquently as he writes and was clearly a literary genius. This book just makes his loss even more profound. An interesting peak into the mind of a literary genius. A must read for fans of David Foster Wallace.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in return for my honest, unbiased review.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

After finishing the mammoth "Infinite Jest" I thought I would try reading (listening) to some of David Foster Wallace's short stories. While not a bad collection, it certainly wasn't my cup of tea either. Some of the short stories I really got into, the first one being my favorite, but as I continued listening, some of the stories lost their luster. They were all beautifully written, but some of the plots and characters I could not get into. It happens! Even though I didn't love this short story collection about "hideous men" I am still a huge fan of David Foster Wallace's work and prose and it won't deter me from reading more of his stuff.

Infinite Jest

I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!!  I nearly had a Rocky moment where I ran up the stairs arms raised high. It felt THAT good. Summarizing this novel is nearly impossible so bear with me. The story centers on a certain movie, Infinite Jest, that is soo good that anyone who watches can't look away. They will continually watch it over and over, forgoing, food and drink, eventually dying. The lengths to which the higher ups will go to obtain the master copy start to get unsettling. Soon a local tennis academy and a halfway house for addicts get swept up in the melee. Told through the perspective of a dozen or more characters, this tour de force will engage readers and take away their lives for however long (two and a half weeks for me!) it takes them to finish this tome. Imaginative, impressive, and filled with dark humor, this novel will resonate with readers.