David Foster Wallace is a name you will see on multiple “Books You Have to Read” lists. His magnum opus, Infinite Jest, is one of Time Magazine’s All Time 100 Novels. His other works consist of multiple essay collections, two other novels, and a few books of short stories. His work is complex, intellectually challenging, and, above all, fantastic.
I started reading his work after my twin brother took a class dedicated to his writing. My brother knew of my passion for literature and pushed (read: pestered) me for months to pick up and read some of his works. I was reluctant at first because A) my brother is studying to be a mechanical engineer and never reads outside of his assigned reading list B) I believed he was an overhyped hipster prophet, and C) I was, at the time, skeptical of post-modernist literature and was sticking to a healthy diet of modernist literature. So how did I, a skeptical disbeliever, end up reading DFW? I was walking and reading To the Lighthouse in my college’s library and I tripped over a stepping stool and landed on my side. In my line of sight was an array of cartoon stars, black eye floaters, and the W shelf in the modern fiction section. If I had fallen a few inches to the left this article would be about why reading can give you not just a headache but also a concussion.
Most websites and forums that discuss Wallace’s work say to start with "Consider the Lobster and Other Essays or Brief Interviews with Hideous Men." These books are said to be the foundation on which you build on to gain the necessary introduction to tackle his harder and longer works (such as "Infinite Jest" and "The Pale King"). I read this advice and decided before I even start reading his work I would educate myself on the who the man on the back cover was.
I learned this style of pre-search or preliminary study after years of reading without truly understanding what I was reading. Before I read any book, I complete a checklist of tasks.
- Read the Author’s wikipedia page
- Watch countless Youtube videos on the author and his works
- Watch Interviews
- Watch Book Reviews (without spoilers)
- Watch Discussions of his work by critics or lay people who enjoy reading
- Read the author’s Goodreads profile
- Read the book in question’s reviews by users
- Search Google endlessly for more information regarding the author or work in question
This checklist, while seemingly extensive, has helped me receive a better understanding of what I am reading. It has helped me increase my knowledge of other authors and the context of their works. This pre-search is almost necessary for understanding David Foster Wallace.
Just telling you to read, watch, and scroll through all of that would make for a short article and would give the impression that I am a lazy writer. Instead what I will be spending the remainder of this article doing will be explaining why you should read David Foster Wallace and where to start after all of the “pre-search”.
Oddly enough, my first recomendation on where to start with DFW is not a book written or even about him. That book I am referring to is "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green. You are probably wondering why I am recommending a Young Adult book that has nothing to do with DFW. AAOK is a great start to DFW’s works because John Green (whether he realized it or not) uses a great number of techniques that are similar to DFW. In the book he uses footnotes, endnotes (The Appendix), and non-colloquial words to frame his novel’s plot. I also recommend this as a starting point because the book is a simple and quick read and is quite good.
After reading AAOK (or deciding that you want to jump right into Wallace’s work), I would recommend following this schedule of DFW’s work:
- Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
- Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
- A Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
- Oblivion: Stories
- Both Flesh and Not: Essays
- Girl with Curious Hair
- Broom of the System
- Infinite Jest
- The Pale King
Why should I follow this scheduled list? DFW’s work is very complex. In fact, complex is an understatement. He uses words you will never have heard of and will probably never hear again. His use of footnotes and endnotes does interrupt the constant flow of reading that most conventional readers are used to. His non-fiction is great place to start because I believe that his non-fiction is more straightforward than his short and long fiction. As I mentioned before, reading David Foster Wallace requires more of a “gradual style of learning”. You have to start with the easiest to prepare yourself for the harder challenges. For example, it is almost impossible to understand Algebra 2 without taking Algebra 1.
Why should you read DFW? You may be wondering “Why should I spend hours of time researching, then spend even more time reading his smaller works before I can read "Infinite Jest," the book all my friends at the coffee shop are bragging about and are excluding me from their post-modernist conversations until I read it?”. If you are like me (who admittedly has not conquered IJ yet) and is feeling a FOMO, do not fret. As readers, it is our duty to work our way up the educational ladder so we can truly enjoy less accessible books. Your friends, who may have only read IJ and have not read anything else by DFW, are at a disadvantage. They read the book as a book not as a complete experience. David Foster Wallace’s writing is intimidating but it is full of rich knowledge and “mind-blowing” moments. His humor is unmatched and puts some comedy writers to shame. His words stick with you and his ideas will roll around in your head for days (maybe even for months as in my case). There is a reason I have not been giving specific examples of his work throughout this article. I did this because I want you, the curious reader, to go out an experience DFW for yourself. Now that you have been given a battle plan, go to your local library/bookstore, pick up a copy of whatever you decide to start with, open your dictionary.com app, and begin your journey with David Foster Wallace.
