December 7th, 2009 / 6:56 pm
Snippets

The New Yorker has an excerpt from David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King, ‘All That’. Feel kind of immensely scared to read.

36 Comments

  1. mike
  2. mike
  3. mike
  4. mike
  5. alec niedenthal

      “(I’m not putting any of this well. I am not and never have been an intellectual. I am not articulate, and the subjects that I am trying to describe and discuss are beyond my abilities. I am trying, however, the best I can, and will go back over this as carefully as possible when I am finished, and will make changes and corrections whenever I can see a way to make what I’m discussing clearer or more interesting without fabricating anything.)”

      jesus, this gives me the jitters

  6. alec niedenthal

      “(I’m not putting any of this well. I am not and never have been an intellectual. I am not articulate, and the subjects that I am trying to describe and discuss are beyond my abilities. I am trying, however, the best I can, and will go back over this as carefully as possible when I am finished, and will make changes and corrections whenever I can see a way to make what I’m discussing clearer or more interesting without fabricating anything.)”

      jesus, this gives me the jitters

  7. alec niedenthal

      also, i think this might just be a story, and not an excerpt

  8. alec niedenthal

      also, i think this might just be a story, and not an excerpt

  9. Tom B.

      I bounced off it after about halfway through the first web page. I’ll try again when the dead-trees issue arrives and I can read it in quieter circumstances. I found myself trying to edit it.

  10. Tom B.

      I bounced off it after about halfway through the first web page. I’ll try again when the dead-trees issue arrives and I can read it in quieter circumstances. I found myself trying to edit it.

  11. jh

      Those of you who’ve read the Whiskey Island interview will see some of the parenting stuff as real similar to what Wallace says about his own parents.

  12. jh

      Those of you who’ve read the Whiskey Island interview will see some of the parenting stuff as real similar to what Wallace says about his own parents.

  13. m

      ‘The Pale King’ was not completed, correct? How do uncompleted novels end? Mid-sentence? It seems like it might be very disappointing to get to the end of something like this and have it cut-off prematurely.

  14. m

      ‘The Pale King’ was not completed, correct? How do uncompleted novels end? Mid-sentence? It seems like it might be very disappointing to get to the end of something like this and have it cut-off prematurely.

  15. Punchy McFuckface

      Tom B. You haven’t finished reading the new piece by David Foster Wallace, but you nonetheless “found yourself trying to edit it”? Is that true, or is that like when you meet a girl and you tell her the one about how no matter how hard you try, no matter how little money you’ve got in your pocket, no matter how much it makes you look like a sucker, you just can’t say no to homeless guys with their hands out. Which kind of asshole are you, Tom B.? Just curious.

      Blake Butler. You’re SCARED to read the story? You’re not scared to read Jesse Ball and Shane Jones, are you? Why would you be scared to read something by a good writer?

      jh. Thanks for the important tip, dog.

      Ned Nederlander. You and Blake Butler should hang out and hug each other.

  16. Punchy McFuckface

      Tom B. You haven’t finished reading the new piece by David Foster Wallace, but you nonetheless “found yourself trying to edit it”? Is that true, or is that like when you meet a girl and you tell her the one about how no matter how hard you try, no matter how little money you’ve got in your pocket, no matter how much it makes you look like a sucker, you just can’t say no to homeless guys with their hands out. Which kind of asshole are you, Tom B.? Just curious.

      Blake Butler. You’re SCARED to read the story? You’re not scared to read Jesse Ball and Shane Jones, are you? Why would you be scared to read something by a good writer?

      jh. Thanks for the important tip, dog.

      Ned Nederlander. You and Blake Butler should hang out and hug each other.

  17. Blake Butler

      stop

  18. Blake Butler

      stop

  19. Tom B.

      Awesome, Punchy. You win the thread.

      I’m a editor by profession. I started reading DFW’s story after working on a batch of magazine stories. I found myself wanting to subject his piece to the same scrutiny I had just been using on my paid work, much of which is abysmal. I’ll read it (“it” meaning DFW’s story) later when I’m not so focused on journalistic matters. Perhaps I should have mentioned that at the time, to provide context.

      Just for yucks, this was the first sentence I wanted to change. Anyone guess why?

      It was (“it” meaning the cement mixer) the same overlarge miniature as many other toy vehicles—about the size of a breadbox.

  20. Tom B.

      Awesome, Punchy. You win the thread.

      I’m a editor by profession. I started reading DFW’s story after working on a batch of magazine stories. I found myself wanting to subject his piece to the same scrutiny I had just been using on my paid work, much of which is abysmal. I’ll read it (“it” meaning DFW’s story) later when I’m not so focused on journalistic matters. Perhaps I should have mentioned that at the time, to provide context.

      Just for yucks, this was the first sentence I wanted to change. Anyone guess why?

      It was (“it” meaning the cement mixer) the same overlarge miniature as many other toy vehicles—about the size of a breadbox.

  21. Tom B.

      Ha — my paid work = abysmal. See how easy it is to screw up?

  22. Tom B.

      Ha — my paid work = abysmal. See how easy it is to screw up?

  23. alec niedenthal

      am i “ned nederlander”? the fuck?

  24. alec niedenthal

      am i “ned nederlander”? the fuck?

  25. Punchy McFuckface

      Editor by profession. Right. You just can’t help it. Can’t turn it off. Like the sympathy. When you see the homeless guy. With the hand out. Even though you know you must look like a sucker. Thanks.

  26. Punchy McFuckface

      Editor by profession. Right. You just can’t help it. Can’t turn it off. Like the sympathy. When you see the homeless guy. With the hand out. Even though you know you must look like a sucker. Thanks.

  27. Vern Pulau

      It’s weird how Wallace’s suicide has brought out the bathos in his work. Now that’s all I hear when I read his voice.

      This excerpt is not his best work.

      But let the necrophilia continue. I’ll read whatever it is they have. A gold nugget is bound to pop up sooner or later. So far it’s been mostly rocks and dirt.

  28. Vern Pulau

      It’s weird how Wallace’s suicide has brought out the bathos in his work. Now that’s all I hear when I read his voice.

      This excerpt is not his best work.

      But let the necrophilia continue. I’ll read whatever it is they have. A gold nugget is bound to pop up sooner or later. So far it’s been mostly rocks and dirt.

  29. alec niedenthal

      i thought it was flawed, but wallace is/was thinking big here. very big. there are a lot of powerful ideas in this piece. but boy did he ever pare down that voice of his.

  30. alec niedenthal

      i thought it was flawed, but wallace is/was thinking big here. very big. there are a lot of powerful ideas in this piece. but boy did he ever pare down that voice of his.

  31. jh

      It is very much so closer to Nicholson Baker than say, the narrator of GONe, etc.

  32. jh

      It is very much so closer to Nicholson Baker than say, the narrator of GONe, etc.

  33. larryl

      I don’t see where it says this is an excerpt, not a short story anywhere… anyone?

  34. larryl

      I don’t see where it says this is an excerpt, not a short story anywhere… anyone?

  35. gene

      it’s an excerpt. been confirmed by numerous sources, least of which is the editor at the new yorker, deborah treisman. [http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-q/2009/12/yes-we-are-still-missing-dfw-part-ii.html] also, i don’t know why people are talking about it being flawed and not his best work when who’s to say how it’ll fit into the bigger contextual atmosphere of ‘pale king.’ and, yes, judged as a stand alone i really enjoyed the motherfucker. thought it was beautifully understated. just because it lacks the labyrinthine sentences and endnotes/footnotes, doesn’t make it a lesser work in my opinion. david had so many voices, it’s just one in a myriad.

  36. gene

      it’s an excerpt. been confirmed by numerous sources, least of which is the editor at the new yorker, deborah treisman. [http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-q/2009/12/yes-we-are-still-missing-dfw-part-ii.html] also, i don’t know why people are talking about it being flawed and not his best work when who’s to say how it’ll fit into the bigger contextual atmosphere of ‘pale king.’ and, yes, judged as a stand alone i really enjoyed the motherfucker. thought it was beautifully understated. just because it lacks the labyrinthine sentences and endnotes/footnotes, doesn’t make it a lesser work in my opinion. david had so many voices, it’s just one in a myriad.