Description
Fiction. Short Stories. HTML: Until his death in 2008, David Foster Wallace was one of the most prodigiously talented and original young writers in America, and Girl with Curious Hair displays the full range of his gifts. From the eerily "real," almost holographic evocations of historical figures like Lyndon Johnson, over-televised game show hosts, and late-night comedians, to the title story, where terminal punk nihilism meets Young Republicanism, Wallace renders the incredible comprehensible, the bizarre normal, the absurd hilarious, and the familiar strange..
Genres
Collection
Publication
W. W. Norton & Company (1996), Edition: Reprint, 373 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member stillatim
This book is very clever because every story is post-something. Little Expressionless Animals, Lydon, My Appearance- Post-Delillo. Luckily...- post Beckett. Girl with curious Hair- post-Easton Ellis. John Billy- post-Faulkner. Here and There- post writing workshop (okay, that's a stretch.) Say
The problem with all this is that people who don't know DeLillo, Becket, Easton Ellis, Roth, Barth etc... won't get why they should care about the ironizing of irony bits that start each story, and are unlikely to feel the whup when they are whupped. I quite liked the book, but it's hard for me to say why anyone who isn't deeply interested in literary polemic would bother reading it. The prose styles are pretty good, and there's an impressive range of them, sure. As I may have mentioned, it's all very clever. It's the sort of thing that makes me want to write an essay. Before you go buy this because he's important and dead, ask yourself: am I the kind of person who often reads books and is inspired to write essays about them? Because if you're not, buy DFW's essays. They don't inspire me to write; they inspire me to read.
Also be aware that DFW himself said, re: Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way, "25 year olds should be denied access to pen and paper."
Also, I'm particularly cranky because I read Barth's story, 'Lost in the Funhouse,' to prepare for reading Westward. As bad as Westward is, it's the better of the two. No thanks for getting me to read that dreck, David, wherever you are.
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Never- post Roth. Everything is Green- I really don't know, but induction says that this, too, is post-something. And the mother of all the posts, 'Westward the Course of Empire,' is post-Barth (unfortunately John and not Karl.) Yes, all very clever. And sometimes moving. Here's how it works: each story pretends to be hip and ironic and post-modern, then whups you upside the head with deep, undeniable sentiment. The problem with all this is that people who don't know DeLillo, Becket, Easton Ellis, Roth, Barth etc... won't get why they should care about the ironizing of irony bits that start each story, and are unlikely to feel the whup when they are whupped. I quite liked the book, but it's hard for me to say why anyone who isn't deeply interested in literary polemic would bother reading it. The prose styles are pretty good, and there's an impressive range of them, sure. As I may have mentioned, it's all very clever. It's the sort of thing that makes me want to write an essay. Before you go buy this because he's important and dead, ask yourself: am I the kind of person who often reads books and is inspired to write essays about them? Because if you're not, buy DFW's essays. They don't inspire me to write; they inspire me to read.
Also be aware that DFW himself said, re: Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way, "25 year olds should be denied access to pen and paper."
Also, I'm particularly cranky because I read Barth's story, 'Lost in the Funhouse,' to prepare for reading Westward. As bad as Westward is, it's the better of the two. No thanks for getting me to read that dreck, David, wherever you are.
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LibraryThing member SaintBrevity
It's David Foster Wallace; you either get him or you don't, I think.
This is a collection of short stories, all in the inimitable DFW style, which just drips with the knowledge that this is Literature with an L so big that it makes godzilla slink away in shame. The stories are self indulgent,
Needless to say, I think I love them, but I'm never quite sure what I think of that.
This is a collection of short stories, all in the inimitable DFW style, which just drips with the knowledge that this is Literature with an L so big that it makes godzilla slink away in shame. The stories are self indulgent,
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verbose to the point of choking themselves, and circuitous, and I can't read more than two or three a day or my own writing starts becoming a poor imitation.Needless to say, I think I love them, but I'm never quite sure what I think of that.
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LibraryThing member gazzy
Technically an excellent writer, but in this collection of short stories he reveals little heart.
LibraryThing member lssian
Totally original, fun, and well written. I can't wait to read it again.
LibraryThing member chadmarsh
Favorite Stories - "Little Expressionless Animals," "Girl with Curious Hair," "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way"
LibraryThing member shawnd
From the author of the more notable Infinite Jest and Broom of the System, this is one of his earlier works, a collection of short stories. This was published in 1989, and I suspect many of these were written before Broom of the System--some have the feel of REM's Dead Letter Office kind of thing:
In Girl with Curious Hair, there are ten stories, and they're truly a mixed bag. In "Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR" a tight, deadpan, nifty little tale which leaves no aftertaste. Very different from the somewhat political, dark, sonorous "Lyndon" which posits a steamy, insider's glance at the LBJ meta-inner White House crowd. Some, like "John Billy" are better left unread, and the last and longest story which starts out in a Writing Seminar attended by aspiring novelists seems too unrealistic right from the start to take hold. The eponymous story "Girl with Curious Hair" has so much potential, and a Bret Easton Ellis meets Salinger energy, and really no where to go: it exists in it's small pond but if this were exported to an ocean (a novel) or a river (a screenplay), some larger plot would perhaps ruin it. Although there are sparks of brilliance, there is a lot of glop in here which makes this more like a treasure hunt than a good back to front read for anyone other than devotees of David Foster Wallace.
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that perhaps some of these were written initially during freelance days or during a stint as an MFA student or in a writing workshop. However, the positive side of this is that since these were written earlier on, there is significant professional editing happening as oversight to the author's work. Rejoice! I believe later we all suffer that this truly gifted author has somehow leveraged art hysteria about himself to absolve his work from any significant editing, which can leave us with a 1,000 page nanoscopic eruption about over-drugged kids in a tennis camp (Infinite Jest). Exaggeration aside, the beauty of Wallace's writing is here in this book without the footnotes, pretension, and long-windedness.In Girl with Curious Hair, there are ten stories, and they're truly a mixed bag. In "Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR" a tight, deadpan, nifty little tale which leaves no aftertaste. Very different from the somewhat political, dark, sonorous "Lyndon" which posits a steamy, insider's glance at the LBJ meta-inner White House crowd. Some, like "John Billy" are better left unread, and the last and longest story which starts out in a Writing Seminar attended by aspiring novelists seems too unrealistic right from the start to take hold. The eponymous story "Girl with Curious Hair" has so much potential, and a Bret Easton Ellis meets Salinger energy, and really no where to go: it exists in it's small pond but if this were exported to an ocean (a novel) or a river (a screenplay), some larger plot would perhaps ruin it. Although there are sparks of brilliance, there is a lot of glop in here which makes this more like a treasure hunt than a good back to front read for anyone other than devotees of David Foster Wallace.
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LibraryThing member ral12345
An incredibly important early work from David Foster Wallace, one part entertaining story collection, one part treatise on fiction. For any serious reader of Wallace, especially those wishing to tackle 'Infinite Jest', this collection is a necessity. One of the more challenging pieces, "Westward
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the Course of Empire Takes its Way" is a direct shot across the bow of the metafictionists of the 1960s and 1970s, which Wallace attempts to move beyond, and seemingly with great success. Show Less
LibraryThing member DRFP
'Ms Eberhardt's stories tended "not to work for him" because of what he called a certain "Look-Mom-no-hands quality" that ran through her work.'
The above is a line pulled from this collection's final story, Westward The Course of Empire Takes Its Way, but it sums up a lot of my feelings about this
It's a disappointment that after the very good Broom of the System these other early works by DFW are such a let down and very little of an indicator of the heights he would reach.
The above is a line pulled from this collection's final story, Westward The Course of Empire Takes Its Way, but it sums up a lot of my feelings about this
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book. Basically there are a couple of good stories here but the rest of the collection feels like DFW trying too hard to show just how young and talented he was. There's an impressive array of styles on show here, certainly; but for the most part there's also a distinct lack of heart in these stories. They feel far too much like exercises in technical expertise. It makes for a rather soulless collection despite the moments when Wallace's compassion breaks through the artifice.It's a disappointment that after the very good Broom of the System these other early works by DFW are such a let down and very little of an indicator of the heights he would reach.
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LibraryThing member cait815
I'm a little bit sad that I didn't like this more. I did really enjoy the first story, 'Little Expressionless Animals', but the rest were just ok. I should note that I did not read the last (and largest) story, 'Westward the Course of the Empire Takes Its Way', because I've read that I need to read
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John Barth's 'Lost in the Funhouse' first in order to fully get/appreciate it. I'll come back and finish this book after I've done so. Show Less
LibraryThing member piefuchs
I read this after I had read Infinite Jest - expecting something comparable. This book is one of those gimmicky modern fiction things that isn't worth reading.
LibraryThing member la.grisette
I don't know what it was about the general tone/emotional impact of this book that I enjoyed so much less than Brief Interviews or Oblivion. I was left cold by the titular story, as well as "Everything's Green." "Say Never" seemed left over from Brief Interviews, and it was better. Especially
I'm going to say some stuff here sort of off the cuff, as it's been a long time since I read his other two short story collections. But I think Wallace is a pretty moral short story writer. I think, convoluted as some of the story lines can be, and even though there is little outright judgment/analysis, each one ends with an unstated but pretty clear moral message. Maybe less so in Oblivion than Brief Interviews or Girl. That's great. I'll take a moralizer over an absurdist/post-modernist any day. But Girl, unlike the other two, seemed messy and snarky as well as high-handed, and that's sort of a strange combination. I guess I mean that this collection seems to lack Wallace's usual sensitivity.
Of course I'll return to this, but not before finishing The Pale King.
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enjoyed the juxtaposition of perspectives, which I can't remember reading in any other story by Wallace, but again, it left an overall sort of bad taste in my mouth. After a promising beginning, "Westward..." petered out. "My Appearance" was the stand-out, with the most nuanced characterization.I'm going to say some stuff here sort of off the cuff, as it's been a long time since I read his other two short story collections. But I think Wallace is a pretty moral short story writer. I think, convoluted as some of the story lines can be, and even though there is little outright judgment/analysis, each one ends with an unstated but pretty clear moral message. Maybe less so in Oblivion than Brief Interviews or Girl. That's great. I'll take a moralizer over an absurdist/post-modernist any day. But Girl, unlike the other two, seemed messy and snarky as well as high-handed, and that's sort of a strange combination. I guess I mean that this collection seems to lack Wallace's usual sensitivity.
Of course I'll return to this, but not before finishing The Pale King.
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LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
A collection of stories, which I regret finishing, as that leaves less of DFW's work unread, with only the brick-sized Infinite Jest looming at me. That will be It. But I will revisit these stories, and chat with him a little bit longer.
The stories are a bit hit-and-miss by DFW standards, which
Some of the stories were a bit off the mark, however. 'John Billy' reads like a bad parody of Faulkner. But that's all I can think of now. The other stories which gently poke other modern and post-modern writers are hoots.
The stories are a bit hit-and-miss by DFW standards, which
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translates to the range of 'outstanding' to 'merely slightly-above-average' by regular writer standards. My personal favorites are 'Lyndon', and 'Everything is Green', and 'Westward..." is a fun ride for anybody who's ever been through a Creative Writing class. The title story is also great, having me bawl with laughter and annoy the other patrons in the waiting room.Some of the stories were a bit off the mark, however. 'John Billy' reads like a bad parody of Faulkner. But that's all I can think of now. The other stories which gently poke other modern and post-modern writers are hoots.
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LibraryThing member Neftzger
David Foster Wallace delivers some beautiful commentary on modern culture through fiction. While some readers may find these stories difficult to get through, it's worth the effort to follow the satire on both American culture (fast food, television, musical, political .. he covers them all in
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different stories) as well as literature. I admit that there were times I found the avant-garde writing style confusing or disorienting, but as I kept reading the seemingly disconnected fragments became meaningful. If you're looking for a quick fun-filled read, this is not the book. The stories are well constructed and will take some thought to fully unfold and understand, but that's what I like most about DFW's writing: it always stays with me when I close the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member gregorybrown
It's a formative work, pocked with moments of brilliance that haven't quite found the best way to orient themselves yet. Still, early-DFW beats the pants off of most late-whatevers.
LibraryThing member cvreeland
DFW had a way with words, & while I found individual paragraphs in this book quite lovely & engaging, all the stories were ultimately pointless, without direction & just stopped with no actual conclusion to any of them. Maybe that was the point, but it was lost on me, if so.
LibraryThing member alexrichman
Always good, and occasionally great. The titular story was my favourite - A Confederacy of Dunces on crack - but there are plenty of other highlights, like the imagined-but-all-too-real Lyndon, or the gruffly heartfelt John Billy. The final section, a novella, gives glimpses of what was to come
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with Infinite Jest - and as with that book, you'll either love it, or hate it. Show Less
LibraryThing member tony_landis
Difficult read, but not as intense as some of his other works. I liked it.
LibraryThing member jakebornheimer
These are great but are (as others have said) no means a match for Jest. I really liked Lyndon and I plan to go back and read it again, along with a few others from this collection. I admittedly skipped the last story because 1) it seemed universally disliked not only by DFW fans but by DFW Himself
I'll have to come back to this eventually, but for now, a comfortable 4 stars will do.
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and, 2) I've just got The Broom of the System on my shelf and I'm dying to have a crack at that. I'll have to come back to this eventually, but for now, a comfortable 4 stars will do.
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LibraryThing member dcunning11235
I did not fully understand almost all of this book (or, I sort-of understood most of this book.) If you're prepared for that, you may find this to be more than a three star book. My previous D.F. Wallace experience consists solely of "Consider the Lobster", which I greatly enjoyed.
Part of why I
But, if you do enjoy postmodern (or is this post-post-modern) lit, then again, this might be more to your liking.
Part of why I
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found this so hard to understand (and to enjoy) is that it really is a meta-meta-book, fiction-that-is-not-fiction-that-is. And I think Wallace was well aware of that; but it is hard to take, all the same. The book is rooted in, and a protest against/mocking of, a literary culture (or long fad?) that is now, at least in part, sailing into the past. And good riddance...But, if you do enjoy postmodern (or is this post-post-modern) lit, then again, this might be more to your liking.
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LibraryThing member Crowyhead
I prefer Wallace's short stories to his longer fiction, and this is probably my favorite collection of his work. Check out "Lyndon," "Little Expressionless Animals," and "Everything Is Green."
LibraryThing member Danielle.Desrochers
Wow! There was so much with this case that I didn't know that I didn't know! And the way it's written is so digestible, it's like you're just chatting with friends and they're telling you an interesting story!
That being said, the content is harrowing and hard to stomach at times, so definitely not
That being said, the content is harrowing and hard to stomach at times, so definitely not
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a light read, just as a heads up. Show Less
Subjects
Original language
English
Original publication date
1988