Damnit, I have a sinking feeling you just added a substantial amount to my reading list.
The book is Infinite Jest; it's the unrivaled best piece of writing I've ever put my eyes on.
I thought it was great, one of the best books I've ever read. Actually, in large part due to the language.
But I know a lot of people who tried it and were turned off; they seemed to get put by this "showboating".
Re:Using the wrong dictionary
by egypturnash on Wednesday May 21, 2014 @02:03AM
(#7776907)
Don't forget the fact that the book, even in paperback, is big enough to severely wound somebody if you throw it at their head. And something like a third of its bulk is footnotes. Lengthy footnotes that can be fill most of a page. There is a certain joy to making your way through a dense labyrinth of a story like this, but you have to put a lot of energy into the journey...
Okay, now I'm definitely sold. I'm a sucker for footnotes in a story.
It's more-or-less obvious that it was a great rule for Stephen King, but it's not clear if it would have helped David Foster Wallace write this:
'How did you know I was interested in Byzantine erotica?'
'You seem persistently to confuse me with someone who merely hangs out a shingle with the word Conversationalist on it, and this operation with a fly-by-night one strung together with chewing gum and twine. You think I have no support staff? Researchers at my beck? You think we don't delve full-bore into the psyches of those for whom we've made appointments to converse? You don't think this fully accredited limited partnership would have an interest in obtaining data on what informs and stimulates our conversees?
'I know only one person who'd ever use full-bore in casual conversation.'
'There is nothing casual about a conversation with a professional conversationalist. We delve. We obtain, and then some. Young sir.'