How dare I only give 3 stars to a David Foster Wallace book! I feel like a weasel doing it, but I have to be honest. I merely liked this collection. Big Red Son I could not read. I'm not a prude who cannot handle porn. It's just that DFW tried to make this piece humorous, but failed. I'm not into vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity, which is what these porn awards seem to be. It was a nauseating and distasteful read, so I didn't read all of it. American Usage: Yep, he really is a SNOOT, and I consider myself a mild one, but I just found that I stopped giving a damn midway through the essay. It became tedious instead of making me think. Up, Simba: I can see why Rolling Stone severely cut up this piece. Again, DFW didn't know when to shut up. Also, this is one that is now dated, so again, I stopped giving a damn, even though he was trying to make this a bearable read by inserting humor in it. I didn't think I would give a rat's tail about How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart, but I found myself nodding in agreement with most of what he said. I haven't read Ms. Austin's book, but I have read a few sports memoirs, and found them to be exactly as DFW said. Like him, I continue to pick one up here and there (except I'm smart enough not to pay for mine. I get mine from the library), and for the same reasons he did. It was nice to not feel alone in that...The rest of the essays I thoroughly enjoyed. They are timeless and do give helpful insight to things. You may not agree with them, but they are still well thought out. Personally I enjoyed DFW handing Updike's ass to him on a silver platter. Damn you, Mr. Wallace. Now I really will Consider the Lobster. Thank you for your perspective on Kafka and Dostoevsky. And my oh my, you really did capture 9/11 accurately. Damn 9/12/08. :(
