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September 01, 2004
And But So...
David Foster Wallace's new short story collection, Oblivion, is maybe the best book that's come out this year. Unlike his previous collection, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, Oblivion has more of an immediate, warm feel to it. Where BIWHM comes off as being more formally experimental and forced, Oblivion resonates emotionally, as many of the stories concentrate on the problems that are created in the disconnect between thought and language- and how much of an incredible feat it is, really, that anyone does communicate meaningfully with anyone else. One story in particular, Good Old Neon, which was an O. Henry selection in 2003, is one of the most terribly gorgeous and desperate prose pieces we've ever read, and features an ending so complex and subtle and surprising that it really cannot be described at all without resorting to just blubbery, inarticulate praise. The book contains threads and themes from both philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and linguistics, and while that might sound horribly boring and repulsive, Wallace presents all the topics in such a way (as he often does) so that everything dovetails into the stories naturally, without feeling like narrative intrusion. Read "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" (which is about black widow spiders, a Raid can malfunction, and public transportation) here.
He teaches at Pomona College, in CA. And freakishly enough, one of his female students rated him on Rate My Professor (said he's a heartbreaker!).
Posted by matt at September 1, 2004 08:00 AM
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