I've noticed over time that great writers - at least the ones I admire - have the ability to make almost anything interesting by writing about it.

I remember reading a review by David Foster Wallace of a biography of some tennis player I never even heard of. I still would not touch that biography with a ten foot pole, but that review, and Wallace's reflections on professional sports and athletes' biographies, was fascinating to read.

Agreed, his writing is beautifully dense and surprising.