DFW Praise Compendium
At the height of my obsession with David Foster Wallace, garnered after reading ‘Infinite Jest’ over several weeks in 2001, an act which literally changed my life, I began going after any and every piece of writing not only of his, but that he had recommended, blurbed, mentioned in interviews, taught, etc. Many of these books also had a profound influence on my brain, including Gass’s ‘Omensetter’s Luck,’ McCarthy’s ‘Blood Meridian’ and ‘Suttree,’ Donald Barthelme, and countless others.
During this period I began constructing a list of these texts as I found them. The list, which I remember as being several pages long, is now likely floating somewhere in one of my many expired computers. I was able, though, to find at least what makes up part of the list in an old email folder, and as such it appears below.
I know this is not an exhaustive list at this point, and if I find a later draft of it I will repost: in the meantime, however, if you have any other knowledge of blurbs or etc. (and any that might have occurred later in his life, after I stopped making the list, will obviously be absent) please comment them. Where I could, I tried to include the actual blurbs and/or comments, and in other places just included the names of authors mentioned in passing or other ways.
(It likely should be noted that many of these refs came from the amazing and wonderful interview conducted with Wallace by Larry McCaffery for the Review of Contemporary Fiction, which if you have not yet, you should read.)
Also included is a Reading List from a class Wallace taught on postmodern fiction (I believe), which is a pretty fantastic collection of texts.
Incomplete list is after the break:
*******************
— Books Blurbed by DFW —
Desperate Characters – Paula Fox
* “A towering landmark of postwar Realism….A sustained work of prose so lucid and fine it seems less written than carved.”
The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
Jack – A.M. Homes
* “A moving novel, and a very refreshing one. Jack is such an engaging, attractive human being, it’s a pleasure to believe in him.”
Thirst – Ken Kalfus
Wittgenstein’s Mistress – David Markson
* “A work of genius . . . an erudite, breathtakingly cerebral novel whose prose is crystal and whose voice rivets and whose conclusion defies you not to cry.”
* “’W’s M’ is a dramatic rendering of what it would be like to live in the sort of universe described by logical atomism. A monologue, formally very odd, mostly one-sentence ¶s. Tied with “Omensetter’s Luck” for the all-time best U.S. book about human loneliness. These wouldn’t constitute ringing endorsements if they didn’t happen all to be simultaneously true — i.e., that a novel this abstract and erudite and avant-garde that could also be so moving makes “Wittgenstein’s Mistress” pretty much the high point of experimental fiction in this country.”
How to Breathe Underwater: Stories – Julie Orringer
Tourmaline – Joanna Scott
* “the absolute cream of her generation”
The Acid House – Irvine Welsh
Dogwalker – Arthur Bradford
Big If – Mark Costello
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – Dave Eggers
The Middle Mind – Curtis White
* “Cogent, acute, beautiful, merciless, and true.”
??
Susanna Moore
William T. Vollmann
— Books Recommended by DFW in Conversation —
Halls of Fame: Essay – John D’agata
The Lost Scrapbook – Evan Dara
Omensetter’s Luck – William H. Gass
* “Gass’ first novel, and his least avant-gardeish, and his best. Basically a religious book. Very sad. Contains the immortal line “The body of Our Saviour shat but Our Saviour shat not.” Bleak but gorgeous, like light through ice.”
Angels – Denis Johnson
* “This was Johnson’s first fiction after the horripilative lyric poetry of “Incognito Lounge.” Even cult fans of “Jesus’ Son” often haven’t heard of “Angels.” It’s sort of “Jesus’ Son’s” counterpoint, a novel-length odyssey of mopes and scrotes and their brutal redemptions. A totally American book, it’s also got great prose, truly great, some of the ’80s’ best; e.g. lines like ‘All around them men drank alone, staring out of their faces.’”
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce
Steps – Jerry Kosinski
* “This won some big prize or other when it first came out, but today nobody seems to remember it. “Steps” gets called a novel but it is really a collection of unbelievably creepy little allegorical tableaux done in a terse elegant voice that’s like nothing else anywhere ever. Only Kafka’s fragments get anywhere close to where Kosinski goes in this book, which is better than everything else he ever did combined.”
Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
* “Don’t even ask.”
Suttree – Cormac McCarthy
There’s a Trick With a Knife I’m Learning to Do – Michael Ondaatje
The Shawl – Cynthia Ozick
Donald Barthelme (esp. The Balloon)
A.S. Byatt
Robert Coover
J. Cortazar
Don Delillo
Mary Karr
Phillip Larkin
Manuel Puig
George Saunders
William T. Vollmann
DFW’s Syllabus Texts
Speedboat – Renata Adler
Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin
Nightwood – Djuna Barnes
In Watermelon Sugar – Richard Brautigan
Play It as It Lays – Joan Didion
Desperate Characters – Paula Fox
The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing
The Moviegoer – Walker Percy
The Man Who Loved Children – Christina Stead
Tags: blurb, david foster wallace, DFW, reading list
blake, save the hard drives of expired laptops/desktops. data retrieval is not difficult. the rest of the computer you can toss.
blake, save the hard drives of expired laptops/desktops. data retrieval is not difficult. the rest of the computer you can toss.
blake, save the hard drives of expired laptops/desktops. data retrieval is not difficult. the rest of the computer you can toss.
Thanks for this!
Thanks for this!
Thanks for this!
This.
This.
This.
i like to look at them and think
i like to look at them and think
i like to look at them and think
i haven’t read any of the books on his syllabus and i will now try to.
i haven’t read any of the books on his syllabus and i will now try to.
i haven’t read any of the books on his syllabus and i will now try to.
you should. i have read them all except the stead and lessing. they are all incredible, except i kind of hate the moviegoer. but lots of people love it.
speedboat, in watermelon sugar, and play it as it lays are the cream of the crop of that list for me
you should. i have read them all except the stead and lessing. they are all incredible, except i kind of hate the moviegoer. but lots of people love it.
speedboat, in watermelon sugar, and play it as it lays are the cream of the crop of that list for me
you should. i have read them all except the stead and lessing. they are all incredible, except i kind of hate the moviegoer. but lots of people love it.
speedboat, in watermelon sugar, and play it as it lays are the cream of the crop of that list for me
very nice. all of these are going on a list of my own.
when it comes to Vollmann, i can’t say enough about The Rainbow Stories. i’m reading it right now, insanely well thought structuring, meta gonzo brilliance.
very nice. all of these are going on a list of my own.
when it comes to Vollmann, i can’t say enough about The Rainbow Stories. i’m reading it right now, insanely well thought structuring, meta gonzo brilliance.
very nice. all of these are going on a list of my own.
when it comes to Vollmann, i can’t say enough about The Rainbow Stories. i’m reading it right now, insanely well thought structuring, meta gonzo brilliance.
But how cool of him to love Lessing? That said, I’d read The Fifth Child over The Golden Notebook.
Plus, let’s not forget how much he loved tennis.
Tennis watching should be on the syllabus. I’ve got seven hours of taped tennis from Rome on right now.
the fifth child is indeed amazing
the fifth child is indeed amazing
the fifth child is indeed amazing
Vollmann is a magic man. ‘The Rifles’ is still my favorite, but yes, the Rainbow Stories is power packed.
Vollmann is a magic man. ‘The Rifles’ is still my favorite, but yes, the Rainbow Stories is power packed.
Vollmann is a magic man. ‘The Rifles’ is still my favorite, but yes, the Rainbow Stories is power packed.
Awesome! I’ve been waiting for this post.
Awesome! I’ve been waiting for this post.
Awesome! I’ve been waiting for this post.
I’m surprised by Jack being mentioned though. I did not think much of that book. Holmes has better work.
I’m surprised by Jack being mentioned though. I did not think much of that book. Holmes has better work.
I’m surprised by Jack being mentioned though. I did not think much of that book. Holmes has better work.
agreed. he likely just blurbed it as that is the one he was asked to, and they were friends
agreed. he likely just blurbed it as that is the one he was asked to, and they were friends
agreed. he likely just blurbed it as that is the one he was asked to, and they were friends
Yeah I didn’t realize at first that some of these were blurbs.
Yeah I didn’t realize at first that some of these were blurbs.
Yeah I didn’t realize at first that some of these were blurbs.
There’s a Trick With a Knife I’m Learning to Do is fucking out of print. Dammit! I need to read that.
There’s a Trick With a Knife I’m Learning to Do is fucking out of print. Dammit! I need to read that.
There’s a Trick With a Knife I’m Learning to Do is fucking out of print. Dammit! I need to read that.
Yeah. That sounds good. Love Ondaatje.
Yeah. That sounds good. Love Ondaatje.
Thanks for posting this BB
Thanks for posting this BB
Yeah. That sounds good. Love Ondaatje.
Thanks for posting this BB
fo sho mane
fo sho mane
fo sho mane
yeah, i’ve been trying to find a cheap one for a long time. they vary pretty widely in price
yeah, i’ve been trying to find a cheap one for a long time. they vary pretty widely in price
yeah, i’ve been trying to find a cheap one for a long time. they vary pretty widely in price
ok thanks, three is a more manageable and achievable goal!
ok thanks, three is a more manageable and achievable goal!
ok thanks, three is a more manageable and achievable goal!
guys the best parts of that book are reprinted in ‘the cinnamon peeler’ which also has elimination dance, which is amazing. the cinnamon peeler is not going out of print anytime soon.
guys the best parts of that book are reprinted in ‘the cinnamon peeler’ which also has elimination dance, which is amazing. the cinnamon peeler is not going out of print anytime soon.
guys the best parts of that book are reprinted in ‘the cinnamon peeler’ which also has elimination dance, which is amazing. the cinnamon peeler is not going out of print anytime soon.
oh nice. thanks sasha
oh nice. thanks sasha
oh nice. thanks sasha
Susanna Moore
William T. Vollmann
At first I read that and scratched my head because I’d never heard of a William T. Vollmann book called Susanna Moore. Then I went to Google and straightened it all out. I’m consistently Internet stupid. Other kinds of stupid too.
I’ve been a big fan of Vollmann for a long time. Long time. I wish I had a copy of the unabridged Rising Up and Rising Down.
Susanna Moore
William T. Vollmann
At first I read that and scratched my head because I’d never heard of a William T. Vollmann book called Susanna Moore. Then I went to Google and straightened it all out. I’m consistently Internet stupid. Other kinds of stupid too.
I’ve been a big fan of Vollmann for a long time. Long time. I wish I had a copy of the unabridged Rising Up and Rising Down.
Susanna Moore
William T. Vollmann
At first I read that and scratched my head because I’d never heard of a William T. Vollmann book called Susanna Moore. Then I went to Google and straightened it all out. I’m consistently Internet stupid. Other kinds of stupid too.
I’ve been a big fan of Vollmann for a long time. Long time. I wish I had a copy of the unabridged Rising Up and Rising Down.
RU RD unabridged is indeed a mindfuck. i’ve never even considered selling mine on ebay, despite the huge prices they bring. the case studies that form the last two volumes of the set are some of the greatest things i’ve ever read. what a freak.
RU RD unabridged is indeed a mindfuck. i’ve never even considered selling mine on ebay, despite the huge prices they bring. the case studies that form the last two volumes of the set are some of the greatest things i’ve ever read. what a freak.
RU RD unabridged is indeed a mindfuck. i’ve never even considered selling mine on ebay, despite the huge prices they bring. the case studies that form the last two volumes of the set are some of the greatest things i’ve ever read. what a freak.
dammit. you have one of those? will you take pictures of its innards and post them? i’m dying to see it.
dammit. you have one of those? will you take pictures of its innards and post them? i’m dying to see it.
dammit. you have one of those? will you take pictures of its innards and post them? i’m dying to see it.
yeah, i think i preordered it the first day it was available.
sure, i’ll post some pics. remind me if i don’t please?
yeah, i think i preordered it the first day it was available.
sure, i’ll post some pics. remind me if i don’t please?
yeah, i think i preordered it the first day it was available.
sure, i’ll post some pics. remind me if i don’t please?
Great post, BB.
Great post, BB.
Great post, BB.
Oh, that would be fantastic!
Oh, that would be fantastic!
Oh, that would be fantastic!
Re: the book exchange thing above
WANT
Complete hardcover Rising Up and Rising Down
HAVE TO TRADE
ummm….mass market copy of Vonnegut’s Sirens of Titan? Whaddaya say, Blake!
Re: the book exchange thing above
WANT
Complete hardcover Rising Up and Rising Down
HAVE TO TRADE
ummm….mass market copy of Vonnegut’s Sirens of Titan? Whaddaya say, Blake!
Re: the book exchange thing above
WANT
Complete hardcover Rising Up and Rising Down
HAVE TO TRADE
ummm….mass market copy of Vonnegut’s Sirens of Titan? Whaddaya say, Blake!
glad you dug brandon
glad you dug brandon
its in the mail. it cost me $89 to ship via media. i also have a limp now
its in the mail. it cost me $89 to ship via media. i also have a limp now
glad you dug brandon
its in the mail. it cost me $89 to ship via media. i also have a limp now
Cool. No give backs.
Cool. No give backs.
Cool. No give backs.
Wallace’s Vollmann blurb (I don’t have the text in front of me) appears on the back of the original hc edition of _The Rainbow Stories_, along with blurbs from Jonathan Franzen and Peter Straub.
Wallace’s Vollmann blurb (I don’t have the text in front of me) appears on the back of the original hc edition of _The Rainbow Stories_, along with blurbs from Jonathan Franzen and Peter Straub.
Wallace’s Vollmann blurb (I don’t have the text in front of me) appears on the back of the original hc edition of _The Rainbow Stories_, along with blurbs from Jonathan Franzen and Peter Straub.
Hey, just curious, where did you find the reading list from a class Wallace taught on postmodern fiction? And at what university was this? Illinois, Pomona, or what?
Hey, just curious, where did you find the reading list from a class Wallace taught on postmodern fiction? And at what university was this? Illinois, Pomona, or what?
Hey, just curious, where did you find the reading list from a class Wallace taught on postmodern fiction? And at what university was this? Illinois, Pomona, or what?
DFW:
OK. Historically the stuff that’s sort of rung my cherries: Socrates’ funeral oration, the poetry of John Donne, the poetry of Richard Crashaw, every once in a while Shakespeare, although not all that often, Keats’ shorter stuff, Schopenhauer, Descartes’ [David Foster Wallace’s Bookbag] “Meditations on First Philosophy” and “Discourse on Method,” Kant’s “Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysic,” although the translations are all terrible, William James’ “Varieties of Religious Experience,” Wittgenstein’s “Tractatus,” Joyce’s “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Hemingway — particularly the ital stuff in “In Our Time,” where you just go oomph!, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo, A.S. Byatt, Cynthia Ozick — the stories, especially one called “Levitations,” about 25 percent of the time Pynchon. Donald Barthelme, especially a story called “The Balloon,” which is the first story I ever read that made me want to be a writer, Tobias Wolff, Raymond Carver’s best stuff — the really famous stuff. Steinbeck when he’s not beating his drum, 35 percent of Stephen Crane, “Moby-Dick,” “The Great Gatsby.”
And, my God, there’s poetry. Probably Phillip Larkin more than anyone else, Louise Glück, Auden.
What about colleagues?
There’s the whole “great white male” deal. I think there are about five of us under 40 who are white and over 6 feet and wear glasses. There’s Richard Powers who lives only about 45 minutes away from me and who I’ve met all of once. William Vollman, Jonathan Franzen, Donald Antrim, Jeffrey Eugenides, Rick Moody. The person I’m highest on right now is George Saunders, whose book “Civilwarland in Bad Decline” just came out, and is well worth a great deal of attention. A.M. Homes: her longer stuff I don’t think is perfect, but every few pages there’s something that just doubles you over. Kathryn Harrison, Mary Karr, who’s best known for “The Liar’s Club” but is also a poet and I think the best female poet under 50. A woman named Cris Mazza. Rikki Ducornet, Carole Maso. Carole Maso’s “Ava” is just — a friend of mine read it and said it gave him an erection of the heart.
DFW:
OK. Historically the stuff that’s sort of rung my cherries: Socrates’ funeral oration, the poetry of John Donne, the poetry of Richard Crashaw, every once in a while Shakespeare, although not all that often, Keats’ shorter stuff, Schopenhauer, Descartes’ [David Foster Wallace’s Bookbag] “Meditations on First Philosophy” and “Discourse on Method,” Kant’s “Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysic,” although the translations are all terrible, William James’ “Varieties of Religious Experience,” Wittgenstein’s “Tractatus,” Joyce’s “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Hemingway — particularly the ital stuff in “In Our Time,” where you just go oomph!, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo, A.S. Byatt, Cynthia Ozick — the stories, especially one called “Levitations,” about 25 percent of the time Pynchon. Donald Barthelme, especially a story called “The Balloon,” which is the first story I ever read that made me want to be a writer, Tobias Wolff, Raymond Carver’s best stuff — the really famous stuff. Steinbeck when he’s not beating his drum, 35 percent of Stephen Crane, “Moby-Dick,” “The Great Gatsby.”
And, my God, there’s poetry. Probably Phillip Larkin more than anyone else, Louise Glück, Auden.
What about colleagues?
There’s the whole “great white male” deal. I think there are about five of us under 40 who are white and over 6 feet and wear glasses. There’s Richard Powers who lives only about 45 minutes away from me and who I’ve met all of once. William Vollman, Jonathan Franzen, Donald Antrim, Jeffrey Eugenides, Rick Moody. The person I’m highest on right now is George Saunders, whose book “Civilwarland in Bad Decline” just came out, and is well worth a great deal of attention. A.M. Homes: her longer stuff I don’t think is perfect, but every few pages there’s something that just doubles you over. Kathryn Harrison, Mary Karr, who’s best known for “The Liar’s Club” but is also a poet and I think the best female poet under 50. A woman named Cris Mazza. Rikki Ducornet, Carole Maso. Carole Maso’s “Ava” is just — a friend of mine read it and said it gave him an erection of the heart.
DFW:
OK. Historically the stuff that’s sort of rung my cherries: Socrates’ funeral oration, the poetry of John Donne, the poetry of Richard Crashaw, every once in a while Shakespeare, although not all that often, Keats’ shorter stuff, Schopenhauer, Descartes’ [David Foster Wallace’s Bookbag] “Meditations on First Philosophy” and “Discourse on Method,” Kant’s “Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysic,” although the translations are all terrible, William James’ “Varieties of Religious Experience,” Wittgenstein’s “Tractatus,” Joyce’s “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Hemingway — particularly the ital stuff in “In Our Time,” where you just go oomph!, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo, A.S. Byatt, Cynthia Ozick — the stories, especially one called “Levitations,” about 25 percent of the time Pynchon. Donald Barthelme, especially a story called “The Balloon,” which is the first story I ever read that made me want to be a writer, Tobias Wolff, Raymond Carver’s best stuff — the really famous stuff. Steinbeck when he’s not beating his drum, 35 percent of Stephen Crane, “Moby-Dick,” “The Great Gatsby.”
And, my God, there’s poetry. Probably Phillip Larkin more than anyone else, Louise Glück, Auden.
What about colleagues?
There’s the whole “great white male” deal. I think there are about five of us under 40 who are white and over 6 feet and wear glasses. There’s Richard Powers who lives only about 45 minutes away from me and who I’ve met all of once. William Vollman, Jonathan Franzen, Donald Antrim, Jeffrey Eugenides, Rick Moody. The person I’m highest on right now is George Saunders, whose book “Civilwarland in Bad Decline” just came out, and is well worth a great deal of attention. A.M. Homes: her longer stuff I don’t think is perfect, but every few pages there’s something that just doubles you over. Kathryn Harrison, Mary Karr, who’s best known for “The Liar’s Club” but is also a poet and I think the best female poet under 50. A woman named Cris Mazza. Rikki Ducornet, Carole Maso. Carole Maso’s “Ava” is just — a friend of mine read it and said it gave him an erection of the heart.
you’re welcome
you’re welcome
you’re welcome
[…] A compendium of David Foster Wallace’s influences over at HTML giant, where I’m spending more and more time. Blake recommends Renata Adler, “Speedboat”, Richard Brautigan, “In Watermelon Sugar”, and Joan Didion, “Play It As It Is” as starting points. […]
re: Blood Meridian, “Don’t even ask.”
yes!
re: Blood Meridian, “Don’t even ask.”
yes!
re: Blood Meridian, “Don’t even ask.”
yes!
wait, i mean, exactly
wait, i mean, exactly
wait, i mean, exactly
He’s namedropped Pauline Kael as one of his favorite writers on more than one occasion, can’t remember the where/when. If I remember correctly, the gist of his praise was that she was really underappreciated not as a critic but as an amazing writer.
He’s namedropped Pauline Kael as one of his favorite writers on more than one occasion, can’t remember the where/when. If I remember correctly, the gist of his praise was that she was really underappreciated not as a critic but as an amazing writer.
He’s namedropped Pauline Kael as one of his favorite writers on more than one occasion, can’t remember the where/when. If I remember correctly, the gist of his praise was that she was really underappreciated not as a critic but as an amazing writer.
He also blurbed for “The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World” by Lewis Hyde.
DFW’s quote: “No one who is invested in any kind of art can read ‘The Gift’ and remain unchanged.”
He also blurbed for “The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World” by Lewis Hyde.
DFW’s quote: “No one who is invested in any kind of art can read ‘The Gift’ and remain unchanged.”
He also blurbed for “The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World” by Lewis Hyde.
DFW’s quote: “No one who is invested in any kind of art can read ‘The Gift’ and remain unchanged.”
[…] Michael Ondaatje. Men mer om sistemann siden, nå runder vi heller av med en link til listen (og giganten) og spør litt sånn ut i det blå om det er sant at vi blir det vi leser, blir vi […]
You left out the books from this syllabus:
http://comp.uark.edu/~ccarera/DFW_Syllabus.pdf
The books are:
J.M. Coetzee (apparently pronounced something like COAT-see-UH) Waiting for the Barbarians
Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs
Matthea Harvey, Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of Human Form
Tony Hoagland, What Narcissism Means to Me
You left out the books from this syllabus:
http://comp.uark.edu/~ccarera/DFW_Syllabus.pdf
The books are:
J.M. Coetzee (apparently pronounced something like COAT-see-UH) Waiting for the Barbarians
Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs
Matthea Harvey, Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of Human Form
Tony Hoagland, What Narcissism Means to Me
You left out the books from this syllabus:
http://comp.uark.edu/~ccarera/DFW_Syllabus.pdf
The books are:
J.M. Coetzee (apparently pronounced something like COAT-see-UH) Waiting for the Barbarians
Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs
Matthea Harvey, Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of Human Form
Tony Hoagland, What Narcissism Means to Me
[…] always been knitted to knowing endings as I only read it because I have been working my way through this list instead of the doing the other summer tribute, and In Watermelon Sugar came in the same book as […]
Also worth nothing, on “The Best of PG Wodehouse” from the Modern Library:
“Pricelessly funny and mean.”
Also worth nothing, on “The Best of PG Wodehouse” from the Modern Library:
“Pricelessly funny and mean.”
Also worth nothing, on “The Best of PG Wodehouse” from the Modern Library:
“Pricelessly funny and mean.”
A blurb he gave for Antonya Nelson (his classmate at Arizona):
“I have been a Toni fan ever since I read a story of hers called ‘The Salad’ on my second or third day of graduate school. I read her newest collection so fast the pages are singed.”
Another Antonya Nelson blurb:
“Perfect…very strong, very fine, funny, dark, and smart. Antonya Nelson has clearly transcended the writer-to-watch stage: she’s a writer to be enjoyed and learned from, now.”
A blurb for a best of PG Wodehouse anthology:
“Timelessly funny and mean.”
A blurb for Lewis Hyde’s Trickster Makes This World:
“Hyde is one of our true superstars of nonfiction.”
A blurb for Storytown by Susan Daitch:
“This is an important collection by one of the most intelligent and attentive writers at work in the U.S. today”
A blurb for Colin Harrison’s (his editor at Harpers) Manhattan Nocturne:
“Totally enjoyable on all levels–the best piece of postmodern noir since James Ellroy’s “Big Nowhere”.
I believe he also blurbed Leyner’s My Cousin My Gastroenterologist (before dismantling it in E Unibus Pluram).
Didn’t he recommend Mark Leyner somewhere? Possibly in one of the Supposedly Fun Thing… essays?
Actually, maybe he was more critical of Leyner and more flattering toward Pynchon and Barth.
There’s also this: “David Foster Wallace’s Top Ten List”
http://www.toptenbooks.net/blog/2007/03/is-david-foster-wallace-serious.html
The writer of the piece (and some of the commenters) assume DFW was being ironic, but I have seen another interview in which Wallace said The Screwtape Letters was his favorite book.
[…] Butler, “DFW Praise Compendium,” htmlgiant.com, 20 Apr. 2009, web, 6 Jan. […]
[…] Blake Butler: DFW Praise Compendium […]
How/where/when exactly did he mention Evan Dara?
He often spoke well of it at ISU.
The impression I always got was that DFW—and a lot of other people—were pretty keen on Leyner in the 80s, then gradually cooled on him throughout the 90s.
Lots of forgotten recent literary history in this NY Times article.
Also relevant?
He often spoke well of it at ISU—a lot of folks there did. The first time I visited Dalkey, Greg Howard told me to read it, so I asked for a copy when I went downstairs to FC2’s office. (At that time, Dalkey and FC2 were housed in the same building, if you can believe it.) Curt White has also always spoken highly of it; I believe he was one of the ones who got it published, though I never knew the full story. (Apparently Evan Dara is a pseudonym? But don’t quote me on that.)
Speaking of Curt, The Middle Mind, very worth reading.
Fucking Disqus. First my original comment disappeared, now it’s here twice.
that’s Disqus-ting! no wunder you sound rattled
[…] And by a Mr. Butler […]