Oblivion: Stories

I was turned on to DFW after hearing an interview on Bookworm (podcast) and after reading Infinite Jest I decided to read all of his other books in publication order. I was worried about Oblivion because I had heard it was a very sad collection. But I fell in love with it. I think it is his best work, which makes his death that much sadder. He had his best work yet to do.

The stories are beautiful and absurd and more accessible

Scanning other customer reviews I saw much reference to DFW's self-indulgence. To be fair he is that, but that's what books are. To avoid self-indulgence, you need to not write. And would you rather have covert or overt self-indulgence? I want overt, because it is honest, and whatever faults he has, DFW was as honest a writer as one can ask for.

First, let me say I absolutely LOVE reading David Foster Wallace. This collection showcases one of his strengths: the attention to detail - or, more accurately - the minutiae - of everyday thoughts; how, for example, three minutes of a day can only be captured by pages & pages & pages of prose, because the human brain simultaneously functions on so many levels (best illustrated when you find yourself listening to someone attempting to explain 'the dream I had last night' but use so many qualifiers that a dream that lasts for probably no more than one minute absorbs the conversation of an entire lunch - or as least smoke break).

Ultimately, though, I found myself wishing a strong editorial voice would have confronted Wallace on several counts prior to the publishing of 'Oblivion.' This is especially true with the first story, 'Mister Squishy,' which seems to build up to a crescendo that is never reached. Wallace weaves together several different narratives into what the reader expects to come together at some point, but instead the story just...ends.

'The Suffering Channel' is a lost opportunity of amazing proportions. In this story, a highly engaging tale begins - and the reader falls into it helplessly, increasingly curious as to what it all means and where it's all going. Yet, instead of reaching a conclusion, or really any sort of resting point, the story abruptly ends. I wondered if the printer had left out pages & pages of the book, and I fought against the urge to hurl it across the room.

I absolutely love Wallace's amazing & rare gifts. But what 'Oblivion' shows is a 'writer's writer.' These stories are partial projects, not stories. They are, at best, extremely well fleshed-out beginnings.

It's a joy to read the words of someone with such innate talent, with such incredible gifts with the written word, but to me what we're left with is just one-half of a whole. Most of these stories end so abruptly, one can scarcely even call them a 'slice of life' because they consistently refer to past or future events that are never quite clear or explained. It's not that I'm left frustrated because 'I want to know what happened.' I'm frustrated because what could have been three or four great full-length novels were robbed.

I will always read Wallace because it is an incredibly intense & enjoyable experience. But I probably would not recommend this book to anyone I know because it is so unfulfilling and ultimately disappointing.

I guess 'Oblivion' can be classified as 'experimental' fiction or non-narrative storytelling, but Wallace is capable of so much more than that, as we have seen in the past, as we will hopefully see in the future, & as even 'Oblivion' attests.

The breadth and depth that Wallace incorporated into each of these stories is both astonishing and approaching sublime at times. Though known more for Infinite Jest or some of his non fiction, I believe that these stories are just as strong as his better-known pieces.

OBLIVION is composed of eight short stories--six of them fabulous--with overlapping themes. In "Mr. Squishy" and "The Suffering Channel", the hilarious Wallace shows thirty-something men at work and in jobs that feel both validating and painfully ephemeral. These stories are also spot-on satires of market research and marketing (Squishy) and cable TV and consumer magazine publishing (Suffering). In each, Wallace shows a satirical talent that illuminates corporate life and captures corporate jargon. In doing so, Wallace approaches the work of the great Don DeLillo, who has a perfect ear.

Meanwhile, "The Soul Is Not a Smithy" and "Another Pioneer" feature boys with extraordinary brilliance who are in losing fights with mediocrity. In the grisly but uproarious "Soul", this takes the form of an eight-year old boy with savant-like imaginative powers who, over time, assumes the life of his father, who has a soulless job doing rote work in an office. In contrast, "Pioneer" is a fable describing a young boy who, over time, becomes the ruler of a Paleolithic tribe through his insight and brilliance. In this story, his extraordinary abilities eventually undermine an otiose but once powerful village caste, which seeks its revenge.

Finally, "Good Old Neon" and "Oblivion" are slightly tricky stories in which Wallace, in the final few paragraphs, clarifies the true identities of his narrators. In the very sad "Neon", this sleight-of-hand enables Wallace to explain how his dead protagonist Neal is able to describe his losing battle with his self-hatred, which he calls the fraudulence paradox. In the truly funny "Oblivion", on the other hand, this technique explains both the fragmentary nature of the narrative and the comic insight of the narrator, who is pedantic, self-deprecating, hostile, and quasi-incestuous.

IMHO, no review of Wallace is complete without a flash of his insightful and often hilarious prose. The following is from "Suffering" and describes the twisted but true vision of R. Vaughn Corliss, a cable TV entrepreneur.

"There was Reality TV... and the nascent trend toward absorbing celebrities into the matrix of violation and exposure that was Reality: celebrity bloopers, celebrities showing you around their homes, celebrity boxing, celebrity political colloquy, celebrity blind dating, celebrity couples counseling... Corliss could see that the logic of such programming was airtight and led inexorably to the ultimate exposures: celebrity major surgical procedures, celebrity death, celebrity autopsy. It only seemed absurd from outside the logic. How far along the final arch would Slow Mo High Def Full Sound Celebrity Defecation be? How soon before the idea ceased being too loony to mention aloud, to float as a balloon... They'd laughed at Murdoch in Perth, once, Corliss knew."

Highly recommended.

If you are considering reading the ultimate post-modernist work, Wallace's Infinite Jest, but you just can't commit to reading a 1,000-page novel, get a taste of it with these stories. In them, DFW experiments with facets of the techniques that make his writing unique: the narcissistic neurotic who overanalyzes himself; the boring job reported in detail; the absurdities of American corporations; the speech tics that make his characters painfully real; suicide; childhood trauma; unusual physical deformities and abilities. All these themes appear here in exquisitely crafted stories that echo Infinite Jest and prefigure The Pale King.

The best collection of short fiction from the best living writer in the English language. It demands patience and attention, but the rewards for the effort are incredible. The best story in the collection is Good Old Neon, which is bifercated (by use of footnotes), such that there are two distinct endings, both of which would qualify the story as probably the best I have read this year.

These stories coil and bend, and the sentences are often labyrinthine; casual reading really won't suffice. If you do put forth the effort, I think you'll find that they engage the mind and that other thing, whatever it may be, that makes us what we call "human." Truly an outstanding collection.

I have seen interviews with David Foster Wallace, and I listened to a portion of the commencement speech he gave to Kenyon College, so I know this man is thoughtful and intelligent. I've also seen quotes from his writing that made me really want to delve into him. I've tried a couple of times, now, starting with this book and then going back to him during visits to the library, and it just feels impossible for me. I want to be able to make sense of what's happening in his stories, and for portions I definitely can follow what's happening, but his prose is so cold and alienating that it makes it impossible to grasp the fuller picture. Maybe this was his lofty intention, some kind of post-modern idea to make me think about my relationship to the text, but I guess that's just not what I'm looking for from a book. I know that this is a man who could definitely have pulled me in, a man who definitely had something to say, but ultimately one who pushed me away. I think that's a shame.

Wonderful social insight. So perceptive!

One of our great writers of this generation. Requires sophisticated readers.

Wide-ranging, clear-eyed insights, these short stories have a psychological depth combined with - sometimes outrageous - fantastical elements, having you believe the author is capturing and detailing a brief segment of the actual lives of his subjects and their imaginations, each pulled from much longer narratives present in his mind. The stories don't so much conclude as abruptly terminate mid-stream in the author's mind as he turns his full attention to yet another narrative stream. (My favorites were "Mr. Squishy" - you get used to the prolific acronyms - and "Oblivion," which each can be read in one sitting. Though it is longer than the other stories, don't skip the last story, "The Suffering Channel.")