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Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Author: David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace made an art of taking readers into places no other writer even gets near. In his exuberantly acclaimed collection, BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN, he combined hilarity and an escalating disquiet in stories that astonish, entertain, and expand our ideas of the pleasures that fiction can afford.
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ISBN-13: 9781600247378
ISBN-10: 1600247377
Publication Date: 9/8/2009
Edition: Unabridged
Rating:
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 3

5 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Book Type: Audio CD
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 2
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men on + 37 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Dark, witty and very David Foster Wallace.
reviewed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a post-postmodern book of short stories with a very stylistically intrusive author. I loved it because occasionally David Foster Wallace will describe some emotion or experience in such direct, perfect language that I can barely stand it. When he stops playing with form and function and stops winking and nodding at his content, he is a master of recreating the human experience in fresh words. I recognized myself in his characters and it was brilliant. HOWEVER! His style is not for everyone.
I give the book 5 stars because A) it contains occasionally nuggets of gold and B) it's a necessary read if you are a fan of / student of modern literature.
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reviewed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men on
Of DFW's books of short stories which I have read, I consider this one closest to Infinite Jest in style and tone. There are also hints of The Broom of the System here.

If you have not read any Wallace and are looking for a good introduction that will also give you a taste (albeit not an exact taste, because none of his books are exactly similar; he was always growing as a writer) of what to expect from his magnum opus, then this is a great choice.

Wallace's style is different in many of his short story collections: for example, The Girl with the Curious Hair and Oblivion, while both excellent, did not prepare me for Infinite Jest. I read Infinite Jest before Brief Interviews and loved it; and now, I have NOT been disappointed by Brief Interviews With Hideous Men.
reviewed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men on + 83 more book reviews
"Dark" is not the word for it: it's a black hole; but wry & incredibly funny. DFW winks as his hideous men reveal their horrible flaws. I
reviewed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men on + 25 more book reviews
Hated this book, didn't read past the first 20 pages. I think you would have to be a real literary genius to appreaciate and enjoy this form of literature.


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