Order BOTH FLESH AND NOT here
(also reviewed)
Order THE BROOM OF THE SYSTEM here
Order GIRL WITH CURIOUS HAIR here
Order INFINITE JEST here
Order A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I'LL NEVER DO AGAIN here
Order BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN here
Order OBLIVION: STORIES here
Order CONSIDER THE LOBSTER AND OTHER ESSAYS here
Order THIS IS WATER here
Order THE PALE KING here
"...and the truth is that TV tennis is to live tennis pretty much as video porn is to the felt reality of human love."
I, like 50% of young North American intellectuals, would like to believe that I have a special relationship to the writing of David Foster Wallace. The inception of this relationship can be traced back to an August 2010 blog post where I've stumbled upon his iconic interview with Larry McCaffery. A lot has happened since then, both in my life, on this blog and in literature in general, but it's fair to say that BOTH FLESH AND NOT, his third collection of essays is the last book solely written David Foster Wallace that'll ever be published. I've finished it and I'm still here, waiting for enlightment.
BOTH FLESH AND NOT was thought-provoking, insightful, hilarious, everything you'd expect a David Foster Wallace essay collection to be. It's also what was left of him. What hadn't made it to a marketable product yet. It's time we let our last literary giant go and let future generation appreciate him better, more intelligently than we did. I don't want to be cynical facing a world without David Foster Wallace, but it's unfortunately the case. BOTH FLESH AND NOT is nothing but an honest goodbye wrapped together by people Wallace loved and a greedy publisher. He was a special, unique and delightful talent, but having a relationship to his writing is unfortunately anything but special.
There wasn't any major criticism of BOTH FLESH AND NOT that I was made aware of, but readers often referred to it as David Foster Wallace's ''B-Sides'' which somewhat reinforced the unfortunate parallel with Kurt Cobain. That criticism is both fair and not. I mean, it's obviously not his most ambitious work. Essays such as MR. COGITO and JUST ASKING are barely a page long and several others such as OVERLOOKED: FIVE DIRELY UNAPPRECIATED U.S NOVELS, BACK IN THE NEW FIRE and THE BEST OF THE PROSE POEM are barely longer. I don't think any of these is over ten pages long.
BOTH FLESH AND NOT isn't showing David Foster Wallace's most ambitious work, but to a certain extent, it doesn't matter. It's about as fun as accessible as Wallace will ever be, and I think this is what he was so beloved for. His essay THE NATURE OF THE FUN, for example is also extremely short and illustrates just about perfectly the existential stigma of writing fiction. It's both an easy and seductive piece that bridges the gap between Wallace's incurable loneliness and every writer's yearning for appreciation. It's fun and it's bound to be fondly remembered. THE EMPTY PLENUM on the other hand is an elaborate review of David Markson's novel WITTGENSTEIN'S MISTRESS where Wallace both vulgarizes Wittgenstein's philosophy and breaks down the beauty of Markson's work in relatable terms.
There wasn't any major criticism of BOTH FLESH AND NOT that I was made aware of, but readers often referred to it as David Foster Wallace's ''B-Sides'' which somewhat reinforced the unfortunate parallel with Kurt Cobain. That criticism is both fair and not. I mean, it's obviously not his most ambitious work. Essays such as MR. COGITO and JUST ASKING are barely a page long and several others such as OVERLOOKED: FIVE DIRELY UNAPPRECIATED U.S NOVELS, BACK IN THE NEW FIRE and THE BEST OF THE PROSE POEM are barely longer. I don't think any of these is over ten pages long.
BOTH FLESH AND NOT isn't showing David Foster Wallace's most ambitious work, but to a certain extent, it doesn't matter. It's about as fun as accessible as Wallace will ever be, and I think this is what he was so beloved for. His essay THE NATURE OF THE FUN, for example is also extremely short and illustrates just about perfectly the existential stigma of writing fiction. It's both an easy and seductive piece that bridges the gap between Wallace's incurable loneliness and every writer's yearning for appreciation. It's fun and it's bound to be fondly remembered. THE EMPTY PLENUM on the other hand is an elaborate review of David Markson's novel WITTGENSTEIN'S MISTRESS where Wallace both vulgarizes Wittgenstein's philosophy and breaks down the beauty of Markson's work in relatable terms.
My complaint against trash fiction is not that it's plebeian, and as for its rise I don't care at all whether post-industrial liberalism squats in history as the culprit that made it inevitable. My complaint against trash is that it's vulgar art, or irritatingly dumb art, but that, given what makes fiction art at all, trash is simple unreal, empty - and that (aided by mores of and by TV) it seduces the market writers need and the culture that needs writers away from what is real, full, meaningful.
Reading BOTH FLESH AND NOT made me realize how weird my relationship to David Foster Wallace's legacy has become. His work is so easy to love because his fiction is visceral and mildly inscrutable and the man was so charming and interesting, so there are a lot of idiots who love him because it's the tasteful thing to do and it automatically shines an aura on your sensibilities. It's both the highest thing an author can accomplish and, I believe, David Foster Wallace's worst nightmare. Part of this relationship I got to Wallace's writing is trying to separate from his pack of socialite admirers and just read him because I deeply enjoy his work, which I do. It's what I think the legacy of BOTH FLESH AND NOT will actually be: an essay collection that's bound to be simply enjoyed, rather than deciphered and hailed for its brilliance.
Here I am, understanding that claiming to like David Foster Wallace is the farthest thing to can do to be special, yet still claiming that I am, somewhat. That I understand his legacy better than everybody else. I'm still in the infancy of my reading life, but I've never known an author that was so complicated to love as David Foster Wallace. BOTH FLESH AND NOT though is his least complicated work to love, and I believe that the fact he didn't have anything to do with its editing might have something to do with it. It's by far his most straightforward and accessible essay collection. I'd even go as far as saying it's a perfect introduction to his writing as it highlights everything so endearing about him without having to make you work too hard for it.
Godspeed Mr. Wallace, I think this closes the circle for us.
Godspeed Mr. Wallace, I think this closes the circle for us.