Book Review: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - David Foster Wallace

Brief Interview with Hideous Men David Foster Wallace

A male friend gave this to me as a gift, and possibly, as a warning. This book is not for everyone. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is both exhilarating and excruciating. DFW's skills as a writer are tremendous, and even the stories that fall flat are exquisitly crafted. However, his themes are repugnant and difficult to ingest - it's hard not to react emotionally to his hideous men and pedestalled women. DFW is merciless to himself, the characters, and the reader. It must have been as painful t...more

A male friend gave this book to me as a gift, and possibly as a warning.

This book is not for everyone.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men lives up to its title. It is a collection of short stories featuring candid confessions, sordid interviews, and bitter literary snapshots focused on the male perspective. His themes are repugnant and difficult to ingest - it's hard not to react with revulsion to his hideous men (and pedestalled women), and it is both exhilerating and excruciating.

Wallace's skills as writer are tremendous, and even the stories that fall flat are exquisitely crafted. The man is a surgeon.  He is as merciless to himself, his characters, and the reader; the honesty and sheer brutality of his storylines hit with the force of hurricane winds, as in "Suicide as a Form of Present".

Brief Interviews must have been even more painful to write than it is to read. It is, however, an exceptional piece of literature, and has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.