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all 149 comments

[–]rhythmlizard 92 points93 points ago

GET IT? IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE ZOIDBERG

[–]alicetimetable 16 points17 points ago

YES HE IS LOVED AT LAST

[–]PandaK00sh 9 points10 points ago

No. No he's not.

[–]VintagePain 3 points4 points ago

Zoidbook*

[–]whodeybluedevil 1 point2 points ago

Slowpoke, is that you?!?

[–]smarmynamehere -1 points0 points ago

seriously. it took me like 5 minutes to get this joke. but awesome.

[–]2etydi 76 points77 points ago

Fantastic collection from one of this generation's greatest writers.

[–]chubs66 17 points18 points ago

Fantastic collection from one of this generation's greatest writers.

[–]DrMonkeyLove 3 points4 points ago

Your correction doesn't work because "writers" is plural and now I'm confused.

[–]chubs66 3 points4 points ago

What?

Let me remove those crossed out words for you:

Fantastic collection from this generation's greatest writer.

I'm no D.F.W., but I'm pretty sure that's a perfectly fine sentence.

[–]Vaskre 5 points6 points ago

I think it's because it's hard to notice the strikethrough on the s in writers. I didn't notice it until I reread your comment.

[–]sty1emonger 0 points1 point ago

You accidentally a letter.

[–]witty_account_name -3 points-2 points ago

Not according to the Pulitzer Prize committee

[–]33554432 5 points6 points ago

He won a MacArthur fellowship a.k.a. a genius grant. That has to say something.

[–]mauv 6 points7 points ago

Amazing author. Someone gifted me This is Water during a period of severe depression and it truly helped me.

[–]thenordicspirit 2 points3 points ago

i read it at least once a year to remind me of perspective. one of my absolute favorites!

[–]smarmynamehere 3 points4 points ago

more like once a week. just...staggeringly perfect.

[–]bigbluemofo 1 point2 points ago

That's ironic. Tragic shame he was unable to find similar help.

[–]female_throwaway 0 points1 point ago

Agreed! This thought is almost haunting when you really delve into it

[–]ConsiderTheLobster 5 points6 points ago

Need a good username?

[–]NoSecondTroy 0 points1 point ago

I can respect a literary username.

[–]gunslinger_006 21 points22 points ago

That author is awesome.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men was incredible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brief_Interviews_with_Hideous_Men

[–]mikesanerd 28 points29 points ago

Infinite Jest is my bible

[–]machine667 12 points13 points ago

I'm reading it for what seems like the 30th time.

Its a rare book that you can continue to find questions and problems with on the 30th reading.

I miss DFW.

[–]zelt000 8 points9 points ago

you reading it for the 30th time demonstrates the sheer brilliance of it. the book = the entertainment = IJ. thanks for the inspiration, im gonna read it again.

[–]mikesanerd 0 points1 point ago

yeah, my copy is held together with duct tape and all the white space is packed with my notes...in a different color pen for each time I read it...

[–]machine667 0 points1 point ago

I've got the old copy and the 10th anniversary edition. I read the 10th anniversary one because its not falling apart on me, and make notes on my bookmarks, strictly because I hate flipping back and forth to a note I've made.

[–]cited 3 points4 points ago

And all 200 pages of footnotes to it too.

[–]ketchy_shuby 9 points10 points ago

It was mine too, back in the year of Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office Or Mobile.

[–]_undereasy -1 points0 points ago

That book is just too dense to get through by anyone with an ounce of impatience. Quit describing things and just tell me what happens already. The pretension and slow pace just kill the action for me.

I like his books and I think he's a great storyteller, but his writing style is a bitch if you aren't in the mood to read someone attempt to describe wind and other impossible tasks.

[–]Theotropho 4 points5 points ago

... Just never talk again.

[–]witty_account_name 1 point2 points ago

I can understand this complaint. There are times when I think that DFW wrote the book just to make fun of the reader and have them scramble about to put pieces together. You have to approach the book with a different mindset than you would with any book you have read in the past.

[–]teddybananafish 0 points1 point ago

Very reminiscent to Nabokov's Pale Fire in that respect.

[–]mikesanerd 0 points1 point ago

[–]ironfortified 4 points5 points ago

David Foster Wallace tried to pick up my girlfriend in a Best Buy. Should have let him have her.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]ironfortified 1 point2 points ago

You're right. She wasn't my girlfriend, she was my mistress. Her husband was in the Best Buy as well and had he known it would have been awkward since he and DFW were both on the university faculty.

[–]FurryEels 1 point2 points ago

Krasinsky adapted it well too

[–]gunslinger_006 0 points1 point ago

Yes I was hesitant to see the movie but it was very well done.

[–]aptadnauseum 0 points1 point ago

Terrible film, however.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 10 points11 points ago

Holy shit. I'm currently reading Infinite Jest. I'm having trouble making it past the 300s but I swear I'll finish it one day.

[–]Yukfinn 6 points7 points ago

Im on 850 and holy fuck is it worth it dude

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

Holy shit. I can't wait until I'm able to get up to there. When did it really start to flow? 200 - 350 has been so hard to get through. It's been such a good read but I just have trouble sticking with it when he goes off on random tangents. I stopped reading when he explains the game of echeton (might have spelled that wrong.) It's just like 30 pages of straight nothing.

[–]Yukfinn 1 point2 points ago

The eschaton game was the hardest part for me, after that all those loose ends start getting woven together. Up until page 700 he was still introducing new ideas, and now there's like, a storm brewing. All of these ideas have become this aggregate shadow and its crazy how the peices are falling into place. Trust me, after that eschaton game it gets better.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

Thanks so much for telling me that. I have new motivation to keep reading. It's hard to pick back up once you put it down because you forget the little details that you have to pay attention to. I need to start taking notes. Btw, the decemberists did a music video where they played eschaton. I don't remember the name of the song but it's a cool video. Look it up.

[–]Yukfinn 1 point2 points ago

Its super crucial to either highlight or underline or just dictate the whole story in the margins. And get a dictionary app on your phone, if you have a smart phone, and there's also a infinite jest wiki where, page by page, they explain any abstract words, allusions or ideas.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

I really need a dictionary app. If you were reading it on a kindle you could just highlight the words and click them for the definitions, however idk how you'd deal with the end notes on a kindle.

[–]smarmynamehere 4 points5 points ago

gotta break through the tough parts. there's a breakthrough point - and it just flows after that.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 1 point2 points ago

Do you know around which page it starts to flow? I heard like 400-450.

[–]smarmynamehere 1 point2 points ago

sounds about right. for me it was around the interdependance day bit i think.

[–]Devils-Avocado 3 points4 points ago

Took me forever to hit 350 and then it caught and I started to fly through it.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

It picks up soon?

[–]Devils-Avocado 1 point2 points ago

Yeah, from what I remember.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

Phew. Thank god. Such a great book but sometimes I just can't take it.

[–]amateurscience 3 points4 points ago

I learned so many new words. That alone was worth it.

[–]Earthtone_Coalition 1 point2 points ago

I keep catching myself saying whinge.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 1 point2 points ago

Haha. The vocabulary on that guy is nuts.

[–]HeroicDread 5 points6 points ago

Stick with it man, I know you'll make it!

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

I'm going to vacation in Hawaii in August and I'll have like a 15 hour flight each way. I'm gonna hit the grind on the plane.

[–]Meshuggahn 2 points3 points ago

I got IJ a long time ago. Read about half of it. Put it down. Kept going. I am most of the way through it now, but it just takes so long. I love it, but it has been one that takes me a long time.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

I've been working on it on and off for about 10 months and I'm only on page 350 haha.

[–]mc_curry_92 1 point2 points ago

SAME, BRO!

That's one of my summer projects, actually. And then I will move on to his other works.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 1 point2 points ago

Ugh. Ok. I gotta get focused and get through it.

[–]CandyAltruism 0 points1 point ago

Stick with it. Reading it was the best week of my life. Plan on rereading it when I'm done with Pynchon,

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

Please don't tell me you read that entire book in a week.

[–]CandyAltruism 1 point2 points ago

I did. Granted I had a whole seven days of off work and nothing else to distract me (no television or internet). Gonna go really slow next time and just bask in it.

[–]ThatFeel_IKnowIt 0 points1 point ago

That's really impressive. I gotta get through it once first. Wish me luck.

[–]burtmcfirkle 8 points9 points ago

Third time for me through Infinite Jest this summer. I can't say enough good things about this guy. David Lipsky has a book out called, "Although of course, you end up becoming yourself." It's a road trip, sort of, with DFW when he was at the end of the IJ book tour. In case you're not already in love with Wallace, the Lipsky book will push you over the edge. I miss him...like I ever really knew him....but my world is a better place for him having existed. Decemberists made a video based on a scene from IJ, the first time I saw it it cracked me up.

[–]andrewlipsky 5 points6 points ago

Have your read A Supposedly Fun Thing? I thought about that essay a lot when explaining to my family why I didn't want to join them on a long cruise.

[–]burtmcfirkle 1 point2 points ago

Not yet...but I will find it one of these days....have read Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Interviews (yeah Krasinsky!), Obllivion, and Broom of the System.

[–]andrewlipsky 3 points4 points ago

I'll share with you one of my favorite DFW lines which is among the most meaningful to me in the list of favorites I compiled over the last several years for my facebook profile: "The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling."

[–]burtmcfirkle 0 points1 point ago

This one has stayed with me forever....is it from IJ or Oblivion? There are so many lines like this one...where as a reader I feel SO connected to the writer. Another is from the halfway house where (I can't remember which female) is describing depression as this great black wing that kind of envelops you, covers you up, separates you, and the subsequent terror of waiting for that to happen. My email signature is Hal's line, "I'd tell you all you want and more, if the sounds I made could be what you hear." That one's going to make under the skin someday.

[–]smarmynamehere 3 points4 points ago

dude. i was going to do a third read this summer too! fuck yeah infinite jest.

[–]burtmcfirkle 1 point2 points ago

The third time I went to Boston (2010) I was checking out so many of the places he talks about in IJ....Absolutely awesome. What the hell was that....Eschaton! Decemberists "Calamity Song" has a video relevant to eschaton! Blew me away....

[–]smarmynamehere 0 points1 point ago

my friends and i are trying to devise a beirut style drinking game version of eschaton. because it seems like a great idea and we're all shit at tennis.

[–]burtmcfirkle 1 point2 points ago

Sounds like a party to me.....

[–]legalactionnow 2 points3 points ago

Awesome!

Was the chick with the pink hair supposed to be Hal/DFW? She had the same bandana on that DFW wears on the back cover of IJ.

[–]Jurph 0 points1 point ago

In the novel, the upperclassmen (spectators) are all male, so I'm guessing Jenny Conlee is wearing her hair pink in that video as an allusion to DFW's "girl with the curious hair", rather than trying to play Axford, Troeltsch, or Struck.

Hal is seen spitting into a NASA cup to Pemulis's left in the first shot. Pemulis is wearing the yachting cap.

[–]burtmcfirkle 0 points1 point ago

It's Ann Kittenplan, if I'm not mistaken, an under 14 girl who appears in the video. Page 341 gets you close.

[–]traumazulu 6 points7 points ago

For those wanting to get into DFW, here is the shortened version of "A Supposedly Fun Thing..." It was commissioned by Harper's and this is the published version. If you like this, you'll love the version in the book, which is even more hilarious.

http://harpers.org/media/pdf/dfw/HarpersMagazine-1996-01-0007859.pdf

Infinite Jest was the best book I've read in the past 10 years. It has some of the most profound and hilarious writing ever. Well worth it if you have a month or two to kill.

[–]repocode 3 points4 points ago

Thank you. I read this Harper's version a while back, and somehow I got the idea in my head that the book version was different but I couldn't find confirmation. It was bugging me a bit. Thank you thank you thank you.

[–]Carlz0r 3 points4 points ago

David Wallace is the name of Dunder Mifflin's CEO before the company gets bought out by Sabre.

[–]fah_cue 7 points8 points ago

David Wallace is the name of Dunder Mifflin's CFO before the company gets bought out by Sabre.

FTFY

[–]AlphaHotel_94 3 points4 points ago

I never thought I'd see my beloved David Foster Wallace grace /r/funny for any reason. This is a marvelous essay collection. He's one of the few authors I consider truly infallible in his writing. I'd recommend reading anything by him, as long as you have the attention span and the patience.

[–]6fast6furious 13 points14 points ago

I miss DFW. Rest In Piece.

[–]aptadnauseum 1 point2 points ago

Really? Is the typo deliberate, and I'm just missing an inside joke?

[–]6fast6furious 3 points4 points ago

Yes.

[–]tacotrucker 6 points7 points ago

Have never read any David Foster Wallace. I'm convinced I need to start though. What do I tackle first?

[–]zelt000 3 points4 points ago

just read the consider the lobster essay, itll give you a taste and youll be hooked

[–]smarmynamehere 2 points3 points ago

read IJ. i actually don't...like much of his short fiction. do the infinite summer - it's something like 72 pages a week for an entire season. it's worth it.

[–]wafsad 2 points3 points ago

I'd suggest Brief Interviews on the fiction side and a Supposedly Fun Thing for non fiction, depending on which you want to start with.

[–]TheTruthBeSold 2 points3 points ago

I ted with Oblivion which is a collection of short stories. I've been hooked ever since. My favorite story is in that book, which can be found online: Incarnations of Burned Children. It manages to sum up parenthood in simple language better than anything I've ever read. It makes my heart ache.

[–]thats_not_gravy 2 points3 points ago

I was never able to get into David Foster Wallace until i listened to a re-reading of a speech he gave called 'This is water'. after that i devoured everything else he wrote and have gone back to read consider the lobster, brief interviews and a supposedly fun thing multiple times....

[–]DannyMcCaffrey 0 points1 point ago

Hah. I asked this same question and got as many different answers as well. Now, in hindsight I would say start with "This Is Water". Then go to the bookstore and peruse the essays on porn conventions and John McCains campaign in 'Consider The Lobster'. Then sit down with the essay of the same title in "A Supposedly Fun Thing..." and perhaps the whole book. Then all the rest.

And of course. Infinite Jest. If you read any great novel, read this one. The most understated thing about it is that it's enjoyable.

[–]_undereasy 1 point2 points ago

You'd have an easier time trying to tackle Ray Lewis than tackling anything of his with any sort of efficiency. Regardless of how good of a reader you are.

[–]pachirico 2 points3 points ago

I don't know what this book is about but seeing this almost made me cry. I work at a restaurant in Manhattan and almost every day I have to kill about 100 lobsters. And I don't mean just kill, I torture and murder them. First I remove their claw and knuckle, then their body and head from their tail. I then stuff the bodies and heads into a 24 quart plastic container. They are crammed in their and dammit they are still alive and twitching and moving their legs. After the tails and claws are cooked off about two to three hours later I revisit their bodies so I can rip their heads off, scoop out their brains and guts and then rip their legs off and cut their bodies in half for lobster stock. Guess what? The bastards are still moving after all of this. I think about this everyday at work. What if they can feel pain? What kind of monster would I be?

[–]Devils-Avocado 2 points3 points ago

You really need to read the essay this book is based on. It talks a lot about the moral implications and most ethical way of killing lobsters.

[–]Gaviero 0 points1 point ago

The video, How to kill a live lobster humanely, may help. My condolences. I hope you have the courage the change the way you work.

[–]pachirico 0 points1 point ago

I wish I had the time to kill them like that. That's how I was originally trained to kill them. As of matter of fact I would even put them to sleep first with a neat little trick. However, now I work at one of the top restaurants in the city and I simply do not have the luxury of time. I have to kill all 100 lobsters in about an hour or so and I have about a dozen other things to do in a very short amount of time so I have to kill them systematically in a very gruesome way.

[–]Gaviero 0 points1 point ago

What a predicament. I wonder if you talked to your manager, if it might be possible to propose a more humane method. I feel for you. Perhaps you could give an argument about taste in addition to right action.

According to one reference:

A humane way to cook a live lobster is to freeze it for 30 mins before you cook it which will put it to sleep as such! Also keeps the meat nice and firm.

Evidently,

The major problem with tossing them in alive and kicking is they will sometimes freak out, which causes the adrenaline to pump and the meat will taste terrible. This is why all animals to be slaughtered must be calm before slaughtering can take place.

[–]pachirico 0 points1 point ago

That won't work. I'm a chef by trade and so is everyone else at the restaurant really. If I'm not willing to do the job someone else always is. I'm really young to be in the position I'm in too. I don't want to blow the chance I've been given. What you're referring to about the stressed lobster is PSE, pale, soft, exudative. Essentially a pink slime will form around the meat if it is killed under stress. However, lobsters are such unintelligent creatures this really doesn't make a difference since I only boil the tail after it has been removed from the body and the lobster isn't under a lot of stress. PSE only really applies to livestock. Also, freezing wouldn't work either. We only use the freshest. That means it is caught, delivered, and processed in a 48 to 24 hour time frame.

[–]Gaviero 0 points1 point ago

I hear you about not blowing your chance. One thing: What about -

A humane way to cook a live lobster is to freeze it for 30 mins before you cook it which will put it to sleep as such! Also keeps the meat nice and firm.

You just pop them live in the freezer before you boil. That would calm the nervous system somewhat.

[–]grandpaegg 5 points6 points ago

This is actually an amazing book.

[–]roo-ster 3 points4 points ago

Check ot the song D.F.W. which is (nominally) about David Foster Wallace. This live performance opens with a story about the origins of the song.

The lyrics can be found, here.

[edit: spelling and link to the lyrics]

[–]garlicscapes 3 points4 points ago

I always thought it a little odd that the title essay is about the cruelty of lobster broils but the lobster on the cover is bright red, which indicates it has been cooked.

[–]Birch_Tree 11 points12 points ago

The essay isn't focused just on cruelty; it weighs both sides of the argument of whether or not it is cruel to cook lobsters alive. The cover photo shows the cooked, dead lobster seemingly waving at you, greeting you warmly, and this slight humanization is meant to invoke the struggle of the argument.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

Favourite essay in the book: Up Simba! DFW follows John McCain on the 2004 primary campaign trail against George Bush. Incredibly insightful!

[–]Sparky91 1 point2 points ago

David Foster Wallace great writer, 2 bad he is dead and no more =[ books will be published by him

[–]themooseiscool 1 point2 points ago

There's something to be said about giving props to DFW in a grammatically flawed post with emoticons. Aside from that, a biography on him is scheduled to come out in August, and there is a new book of his essays scheduled to come out soon.

[–]cleggcleggers 1 point2 points ago

I read this book, and while his prose was excellent, the whole time I was just thinking 'why the fuck am I reading this?'

[–]Gaviero 1 point2 points ago

Funny story about 'lobster.' According to the menu at America Eats:

Lobsters used to be so abundant that Native Americans used them as fertilizer and fishing bait. For centuries, lobster was seen as a demeaning food for prisoners and servants; dockworkers insisted on contracts that kept their lobster diet to a minimum. That all changed 100 years ago when John D Rockefeller mistakenly ate -- and loved -- a bowl of his servants’ lobster stew at his summer home in Maine.

[–]kleptophobiac 1 point2 points ago

At a very low time in my life I sold a signed first edition of IJ (with the "Volman" printer error on the back) for a hideously cheap price. About a week after I put it in the mail, I got a notice back from the USPS telling me that it had been "destroyed by water". I've always wondered what really happened to it. Buyer was understanding, though.

[–]mighteee 1 point2 points ago

Still haven't finished Infinite Jest. I'm trying, but MAN that man could write some crazy words.

[–]torontosj 1 point2 points ago

I think the first chapter in this book is an essay called The Big Red One. And it is a gonzo essay of David Foster Wallace at the AVN Porn Awards.

[–]AmazingWeasel 2 points3 points ago

This is a hilarious book and I would actually recommend everyone to read it.

[–]Iusethistopost 2 points3 points ago

The A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again collection is also incredibly funny to me, mostly because I hate the idea of cruises, and there's an incredibly well done story about state fairs.

[–]Oh_Hell_Yeah 2 points3 points ago

This is an even better collection of essays by the same dude: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. I prefer his non-fiction.

[–]NoFunTom 1 point2 points ago

Pomona College FTW

[–]likesOldMen 1 point2 points ago

I've already got this book. It is truly wonderful. Also check out A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. The piece on the Illinois state fair, and the title piece, are among the most memorable things I've ever read.

[–]Starchild19 0 points1 point ago

He taught at my school! To bad he killed himself, he was quite brilliant.

[–]dkim95 0 points1 point ago

I guess David Wallace's "Suck It" didn't work out. He must have wrote a book about lobsters.

[–]craterz 0 points1 point ago

My pops was a good friend of Wallace's. I recommend The Pale King, one of my favorites of his. He was one of the best American writers of all time.

[–]ConsideredTheLobster 0 points1 point ago

It was actually pretty good.

[–]antonbe 0 points1 point ago

I have The Pale King (Wallace's last book before he passed) sitting on my shelf and I'm not sure if I should give a read, anyone read it? Thoughts or opinions?

[–]CandyAltruism 0 points1 point ago

It felt incredibly unfinished but still DFW in all his glory. It's a bit emotional finishing though since that's all there ever will be.

[–]33554432 0 points1 point ago

I read it, wasn't as mind blowing as IJ or brief interviews, and it took me way longer to get into it, but, try it out as parts of it are really beautiful and resonate deeply. Just don't go in expecting something quite as riveting as IJ, as (arguably) the point of the book is about dealing monotony and the larger implications thereof and this point is expressed through talking a lot about tax codes...

Also it's incomplete, and more than just the usual for DFW :P

[–]CandyAltruism 0 points1 point ago

David Foster Wallace is my all time favorite author. Have all his novels. That bit about suicide (w/r/t Kate Gompert) while in the midst of severe depression myself drew me to him. I sleep with Infinite Jest inches away from my face.

[–]TheRealDrCube 0 points1 point ago

Don't forget about The Secret Life of Lobsters

[–]nickcash 0 points1 point ago

Need[1] a good book[2]? Why[3] not[4]...

[–]purplepug22 0 points1 point ago

I love how the author has the same name as the the corporate boss from the office. David Wallace.

[–]NasalSnack 0 points1 point ago

Why not Zoidberg?

[–]Penultim8 0 points1 point ago

I have this, but I haven't read it yet. I was just trying to figure out which book to start next. Thanks!

[–]Son_of_Atreus 0 points1 point ago

Half way through Infinite Jest and then some schlumb got me reading a little series called game of thrones. Ah, i'll be back for DFW after book five.

[–]snokyguy 0 points1 point ago

damn, just went to my library's website and it was checked out... wait, do you live in iowa..?

[–]sequinbikini[S] 1 point2 points ago

nope! NYC. I saw this on @coverspy and decided to check it out

[–]krabman 0 points1 point ago

just bought it on amazon, good advice.

[–]cadecer 0 points1 point ago

The first essay in the book is one of my favorites. It paints the porn industry so clearly, it's as if you were there for every money shot.

[–]HerpvonderpingtonIII 0 points1 point ago

Why not zoidberg

[–]Keiserwillhelm 0 points1 point ago

"there is no writer alive..."

.... :(

[–]CreepyCarbs -1 points0 points ago

Im not entirely sure why this is supposed to be funny but this is a fantastic book.

[–]w3ar3allk1ng5 -1 points0 points ago

Fuck it, ZOIDBERG!

[–]gl77 -1 points0 points ago

Nice try, David Foster Wallace.

[–]feor1300 -4 points-3 points ago

"Consider the Lily" by Brian of Nazareth was much more inspirational.

[–]sjsp215 -2 points-1 points ago

reading that book is a supposedly fun thing that I will never do again

[–]pennylane_3 -2 points-1 points ago

I don't know if I should upvote you for David Foster Wallace or not...

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[–]gameboyjsa -2 points-1 points ago

That's the joke...

[–]buccsmf1 -2 points-1 points ago

Gonna break the circle jerk here and add that infinite jest blew. To think that I could have read 5-6 vonneguts in the time it took to read that mess....

Oh, youve read 1200 pages of character development and now you're at the climax!!! Nope, the book just ends. It would be like watching the entire LoTR series and the RoTK just fades to black just as the rohirrim charge at minas tirith.

Not all of the book was bad. Some passages were mesmerizingly beautiful, but he needed to gut about 500 pages of that thing.

[–]CeruleanOak -5 points-4 points ago

Should've left the "Why not" out of the title. "Consider" is a perfect substitute.