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Tracy Austin spoiler:

"...and that those who received and act out the gift of athletic genius must, perforce, be blind and dumb about it. And not because blindness and dumbness are the price of the gift, but because they are its essence."

Yup. I really overuse that thought, even.
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http://sonn-d-robots.com/dfw/interviews-pr...posedly-Era.mp3Dfw and Charlie Rose, talking first about David Lynch, then about random movies that were then-popular, and then I dunno what they talk about after that cuz I'm still listening.Charlie Rose: How about 'Shine?'David Foster Wallace [seemingly confused at the direction the interview has taken]: ....A lot of this is gonna get cut out, right?Edit: Oh he's not confused, he'd had a run-in with the Shine people before.
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So far I've read, in order:Infinite JestSupposedly Fun ThingHistory of Infinity (got halfway through, couldn't finish it since I don't know any math and too much of it was over my head)Consider the LobsterBroom of the System& I'm going to finish Brief Interviews w/Hideous Men this week.So I think all I really have left is Girl with Curious Hair...and then what do I read? What's comparable to DFW that will satiate whatever it is his writing has created? I haven't read any Pynchon, who he's often compared to, but, and I'm really looking at you, Dutch, with possibly a sideways glance over at BigD, but I'm going to need some recommendations.

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So far I've read, in order:Infinite JestSupposedly Fun ThingHistory of Infinity (got halfway through, couldn't finish it since I don't know any math and too much of it was over my head)Consider the LobsterBroom of the System& I'm going to finish Brief Interviews w/Hideous Men this week.So I think all I really have left is Girl with Curious Hair...and then what do I read? What's comparable to DFW that will satiate whatever it is his writing has created? I haven't read any Pynchon, who he's often compared to, but, and I'm really looking at you, Dutch, with possibly a sideways glance over at BigD, but I'm going to need some recommendations.
Well, prepare to be disappointed. There are works which on their own merit could be considered as good or better than Wallace, but nothing in that same sort of mode that could satisfy like that. It's hard to go from DFW to other things, imo. You could argue that Gravity's Rainbow is a better book than IJ in a lot of ways. It's a more impressive literary statement, anyway. And Pynchon I think has an intellectual advantage and more stylistic dexterity in that Wallace at some point became slavishly committed to delivering his brand of hyper honesty which is theory should get annoying. But it somehow never has for me, even remotely, and I find Wallace significantly more satisfying than any of the postmodernists and black humorists with whom he's usually compared. I think it's unlikely that anyone else will totally satisfy. Like, the only thing that was every close to bringing me the same joy was Vonnegut when I was a kid. That said, I would say other things you should be checking out, other than Pynchon who is God, would be like DeLillo's stuff (probably WHite Noise and earlier), Richard Powers' Goldbug Variations, Vollmann if you can get into him, Barth's really pomo stuff is sort of dry and mechanical but the mechanics are pretty much where a lot of the techniques DFW uses first came into the lexicon (as is my uneducated understanding) and is sort of important and amusing (specifically Lost in the Funhouse being the place I mean), etc. etc. And I once saw an article DFW did for Salon.com about his favorite American experimental novels, which I know included Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Marksen and Omensetter's Luck by William H. Gass, both of which were very impressive Oh, also, I think everyone should check out Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
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I've heard Jonathan Safran Foer called DFW's literary heir, but I haven't red him yet, so I can't give the thumbs up or down on him. I know Dutch think's he's the most vile man alive. I dunno, I'm the same boat you are, chasing wallace. That's why his suicide before releasing his latest novel was so crushing for me. It was basically the first book who's publishing I was actually looking forward to, like ever. Almost everyone else I read ( and love) are eiither dead or so far past their artistic peak that I don't really care about their new releases ( or I just am not that attached to them as an author). DFW's third novel was pretty much my most anticipated artistic release of any genre ( with the possible ( and utterly disappointing) exception of episode one, as I was a starwars geek growing up) for me, and when he died it was selfishly crushing for me.

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I've heard Jonathan Safran Foer called DFW's literary heir...
He's a lot like what DFW would be like if DFW wrote with a clumsy prose, horrible and sophmoric taste when it comes to applying his seeming-random ploys and tricks, an embarrassing sense of humor when employed, a shocking lack of self-awareness at times, an offensive tendency to try to exploit his Jewish background for support, and of course probably the most stunningly unchecked and poorly-arrived-upon social agenda I can name off the top of my head.
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In all seriousness, mostly at BraveHeart's request, I read his story about the cruise ship, and then I red a bunch more of his shorts. They're all really good and hilarious. I haven't found the time to start Infinite Jest yet. It's on my shelf, mocking me. One day, IJ, one day.

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In all seriousness, mostly at BraveHeart's request, I read his story about the cruise ship, and then I red a bunch more of his shorts. They're all really good and hilarious. I haven't found the time to start Infinite Jest yet. It's on my shelf, mocking me. One day, IJ, one day.
BOOM!Next step: belief in Jesus Christ.
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I'm excited about the next step!
I didn't want that changed. Change it back.
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