David Foster Wallace

Well I can't say I've read the author your talking about, but whenever I feel totally overwhelmed by a book I figure it is because I'm not ready for it. (This is of course if I am not just being lazy. )

If you get completely frustrated, I would put it down for a while and read something else. You can always come back to it later.

Of course, you may have an epiphany also. In that case, disregard aforementioned advice.

Either way, happy reading.

Hopefully there is someone here more knowledgable than I that can help you.

While Infinite Jest is my favorite DFW piece, I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who has never read Wallace's work before. It was my first introduction to DFW, and I have to admit that it took me a while to get into it. Basically, after being completely overwhelmed by Great Expectations in 6th grade, I have had this grim determination ever since not to give up on a book. So, with Infinite Jest, I just kept reading and I think somewhere, about a quarter of the way in, I realized that not only did I understand it, but I was in love with it, and it just kept getting better.

I think there are two things that you have to realize about DFW. The first is that he writes sort of like he's half having a conversation with you, half talking to himself, and so he tends to ramble...a lot...and you'll find yourself reading the words while your attention drifts elsewhere. The second is that this is perfectly okay, because much of his rambling is completely inconsequential. You may miss a few jokes here and there, but nothing major. Don't get tripped up by it and just carry on through his page-long footnotes and whatever until you start to get back into it.

With that said, maybe you simply aren't ready for Infinite Jest yet. Or maybe DFW's writing style isn't for you; he's definitely a very idiosyncratic writer and makes no apologies for it. I would start with A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, a collection of non-fiction essays. Probably would be an easy way for you to warm up to his writing style, and get a little background on some of the experiences/people whose influence is pretty obvious in Infinite Jest.

Check out "Consider the Lobster". The essay with the same name is a must read, along with "The View from Mrs. Thompson's".

It's where I started.

Thanks a lot for your thoughts and suggestions. I started reading Brief Interviews and 4 stories in am finding myself getting accustomed to the way it’s written. At some point I will go back to Jest, I think my major hang up was more that I wasn’t really in a mood to read something that needed constant attention the way any novel, let alone one with the girth of Infinite Jest.

The footnotes in the narrative were a spot of bother for me also.

Again thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate them very much.

The Depressed Person

I always get this guy confused with the guy that wrote Confederacy of Dunces. Always.
To the point that that's how I know who he is, I see the name and think, "Hey! That's the guy I always get confused with the Confederacy of Dunces guy!"

Always been curious about reading this guy's stuff but have also been somewhat been put off by some reviews I've read. Thanks for posting that story postit, I enjoyed it and think I will check out Brief Interviews at some point.

If memory serves, in 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men' there's a man who involuntarily screams "Victory for the democratic forces!" every time he orgasms.

I think about that at least once a day.

Impotence permitting.

Start off with his essays then read his short stories then read Broom then read infinate jest.