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So I want to read a book by DFW as part of my attempt to read more contemporary authors. Anyone have suggestions as to which would be the first book to get into?
I know Infinite Jest is one of his best known but I also don't want to invest into 1,000 pages of something that I might hate anyways.
Thanks
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>>8988053
If it takes you until the end of a 1000 page book to realize you're not enjoying it then I'd stick to movies
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>>8988057
he means spending money on something he might hate
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>>8988063
>spending money on books
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read Little Expressionless Animals, the first story in Girl with Curious Hair, I think that's a good approach
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http://stanford.edu/~sdmiller/octo/good-old-neon/
This is my favorite short story of his. It's pretty long, but worth it.
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Consider the Lobster is a good starting point. Not book length either.
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>>8988053
Ive read every word Dfw ever wrote---both fiction and non. Look through his nonfiction collections and read any of them with a subject that might interest you. If you couldn't find any, start with A Supposedly Fun Thing (the essay). You should be hooked after that. Then try Good Old Neon. Out of all the fiction that ive read in my life, it is my favorite.
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Good Old Neon is too depressing
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>>8988053
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (the whole book) would make a pretty great starting point, I think
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>>8988057
I always finish a book I'm reading even if I hate it. You don't know what you're talking about
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>>8988070
That story is some of DFW's lowest level work.
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I've always heard Consider the Lobster the best starting place.
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His nonfiction is really the best place to start. A Supposedly Fun Thing is excellent, as is Consider The Lobster. They're fun, accessible, funny, but they do a good job of conditioning you to his style and also to flipping back and forth between foot/endnotes and the main text.
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>>8989413
>flipping back and forth between foot/endnotes and the main text.
Why is this his thing? Why is this a thing?
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>>8988053
just read his essays, IJ is tumblr shit
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How good could he have been. He an heroe'd!
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>>8988063
L I B R A R Y
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>>8988089
seconding this
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