I haven’t read the bio and only know about Wallace through articles here and there, but I get the sense that he himself had the same dread of living up to his own standards, which may have contributed to his death. Poet William Stafford, when asked about his solution to writer’s block, would suggest, Lower your standards. On a related note, I read a Q & A between Art Garfunkel and a Chicago Tribune reporter. When asked about Paul Simon, he admitted they weren’t close. He said Simon was so smart and sharp that Garfunkel felt like he had to bring his A-game just to make a phone call to a friend. I’m pretty certain my friends don’t need to fear that when they call me.
Now that a new bio is out about David Foster Wallace, I keep hearing about his gargantuan “masterpiece,” Infinite Jest, so I’ve decided to tackle it. After reading the first ten pages or so, I’ve come away with a familiar realization. He makes you feel both smarter and dumber at the same time. Smarter because the description is so brilliant that you feel as if you’re participating. Because you’ve made the same careful observations he’s made many times, which is an illusion of course, called hindsight bias by psychologists, but it’s compelling nonetheless. Because when you get the humor, you feel a special connection, like no one else appreciates these pages quite as much as you. More illusion, which maybe is the purpose of art. Dumber because you realize that you will never live up to the standard he set. Some damn good writing.
I haven’t read the bio and only know about Wallace through articles here and there, but I get the sense that he himself had the same dread of living up to his own standards, which may have contributed to his death. Poet William Stafford, when asked about his solution to writer’s block, would suggest, Lower your standards. On a related note, I read a Q & A between Art Garfunkel and a Chicago Tribune reporter. When asked about Paul Simon, he admitted they weren’t close. He said Simon was so smart and sharp that Garfunkel felt like he had to bring his A-game just to make a phone call to a friend. I’m pretty certain my friends don’t need to fear that when they call me.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
BLOGMy reflections on writing, reading, and random thoughts. Archives
November 2019
Categories |