Customer Reviews

Girl With Curious Hair

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Why do so many reviews warn readers of the complexity of Infinte Jest? I found Infinite Jest to be a hundred times more readable than most of the stories in Girl with Curious Hair. The last story is ridicliously difficult to read and the ending makes no sense at all. Why would an author who deftly satirizes meta-fiction even in his first book (which some reviewers compared to the great metafictionists) purposefully try to be so difficult? Like the main character in Broom of the System tells Rick Vigorous: why don't you tell a real story instead of a story about a story? As a huge David Foster Wallace fan, I have to admit that I positively abhor Broom of the System and most of Girl With Curious Hair. They seem to be like cold, heartless exercises in how-avant-garde-can-I-be? and not at all pieces of writing that seemed like they were written by the author of Infinite Jest. But as my title eludes to, I am postively enamored with My Appearance. As an indictment of postmodern irony and its inability to truly accomplish anything, the story is flawless (well maybe the didactic dialogue can be a little off putting). More than any other living author, David Foster Wallace tackles the most important issues of the day to his generation and mine: drug abuse, depression, loneliness, irony, sex, and television. And, unlike other authors, he doesn't do it in a cute or ironic way. In an anthology of literary criticism from the 1950s, I read an article in which a critic expressed her feeling that writers of her decade had lost the ability to write about their culture and instead chose to focus on subjective explorations of individuals outside the bounds of society. I find current writers to be having the same difficulties, though instead of decadent novels about sex, drugs, and depression, todays writers write novels about mysterious byzantine paintings or soulless "satires" of the media in which the same sort of heartless humor and everyone's-a-whore philosophy found on late night TV is used to supposedly "skewer" that very phemenona. Those who are unafraid to face real, scary human realities like Wallace are the real heroes.

Ignoring all the fuzz about postmodern writing, I constantly found myself asking, what kind of impact did writers like Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo or William Gaddis might have had to other writers and, even more significant, what trace have they left in modern writing. In David Foster Wallace's collection of short stories, "Girl with curious hair", I found a large portion of my questions answered.

I've just finished it in almost one sitting, and like so often, when the book you've just finished didn't turned out to be total crap, you start missing its characters.
I miss Julie Smith from the "Jeopardy !" show, I wanna stick to "Sick Puppy" and his punky friends visiting a Keith Jarrett (!) concert. I feel sorry for old pal Chuck Nunn, jr., who, after a car accident, had his eyes constantly popping out their holes (!!). I deeply felt for the woman who "appeared in the David Letterman show", don't be nervous anymore ! And then finally there's David Boyd, first boy and close friend of the president of the United States, Lynton B.Johnson !

David Foster Wallace presents each of the five stories in a different tone, a different style: There's the more traditional narrative form in the first story, pure satire (with shades of Brett Easton Ellis's "American Psycho") in the second, and a haunting yet nightmarish and illogical atmosphere in the third one. The fourth story comes with a dry, almost documentary-like kind of prose, while the fifth and last story (the LBJ story) once again returns to more traditional grounds.

But don't worry: David Foster Wallace successfully manages to avoid pretentiousness or self-indulgence and never lets "Girl with curious hair" end up in a writing skill showcase !

This book is funny, it's brilliant, it should be regarded as a modern classic, but word comes around his other books are even better <...> oboy !

True to form, D F W offers some very "literary" story, some po-mo fireworks, and caps it off with a silly sitcom feel. But I kept asking myself through the read, "Is this worth it?" Some stories, like "Little Expressionless Animals" yes, others like "John Billy" one has to ask, what's the point?

I agree with the earlier reviewers, Pynchon infiltrates this text, making these stories about rock stars, tv celebrities, and politicians seem less, well, unique. And while Pynchon steps back on the narrative and sort of accepts the absurdity of his premises (like in Vineland), Wallace also wants this sort of authenticity, this emotional punch, which at times seems contrived.

So, he is essentially writing for two (or three, including himself) audiences, the lit critics and the fans, and unfortunately he cannot hit both, so he settles on m.o.r. fare that's vaguely insulting to his characters. I mean, his characters, like Boyd in "Lyndon" come off as caricatures, silly stand-ins for the BIG POINT he wants to get across to the grad school audience.

I think D F W was talented and had a great deal to say, but I also think that he is best simply telling a story, instead of having to add literary value, because let's face it, there's only so much to the joke of a bunch of conservative "punkrockers" in "Girl with the Curious Hair."

My recommendation, pick this up, but do not feel beholden to finishing any one story.

I have not yet finished the last story, but I couldn't wait. This boy is so bizarrely talented I have no idea where to begin. For sure, not all of the stories are total winners, but damn can this kid write. The different voices, the moral tone, the evocation of time, space, time/space, the absolutely hallucinogenic skill and joy in language. "John Billy" is so damn strange and so damn wonderful, sporting, among other gems, the priceless: "The cleft rigger got levitationally joined by some other civilians." Get on the stick and ride this puppy.

DFW is obviously brilliant. The last story had me in rapture, the story about David Letterman was perfectly written, and the first story left long lasting traces on me. That being said, DFW has no idea how to end a story and often, doesn't know when to stop writing. But his characters are memorable and he knows how to change voices with the best of them. Damn shame to lose a great writer.

Reading this collection brought to mind a review I once read of a film, a paraphrasing of which best sums up this work: this is such a close copy of Thomas Pynchon that it's not plagarism, it's quotation. The extended fugue on Jack Lord and "Hawaii Five-O" in the last story ("Westward...") could've been lifted directly from "Vineland". Overall, the world-weary hipness and extended verbal (literal?) arabesques wore me out. At least Pynchon was genuinely funny, at intervals.

Ok so she claims she has weird hair like whatever who the hell does she think she is dying her hair a diferent color everyday just to impress some neighbor of hers! I mean the neighbor is a Phyco for god sakes how can she think like this! Great book for cell-mates to read to eachother after the lights go out with those tawny flashlights!

Flashes of brilliance with complete and utter beauty. However, it is obvious the author is still searching his method. Some stories are just dead and strange. The author at his best is far more unsettling and unblinkingly addictive than Vonnegut. Other stories... are just not as they could be, and disappoint. I can only hope that David Wallace can pull his talent together continuously through a full book, and soon.

I read Girl With Curious Hair after Infinite Jest, so I thought I had some idea of what to expect. The stories in this book are so different from one another, and from Jest, that I shall now review them separately.
Little Expressionless Animals-This story blended the absurd business of game shows perfectly with the absurd story of a savant lesbian and her autistic brother. This was probably my favorite story.
Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR- This story was the very crisp. It is short, and it is still detailed, but it is not an extravaganza like the others. It is a good story, though, and very clever.
Girl With Curious Hair- This story is hilarious and very perverse. My brother says it is pro-Republicanism, but I do not believe him. It may be too perverted for many people.
Lyndon- This is a good example of DFW's ability to recreate actual famous people. It is also a comment on the different kinds of love people have. I don't think that I understood it.
John Billy- John Billy is an excellent example of DFW's style. It is a simple story about the hometown hero Chuck Nunn Jr, told in a complicatedly Kansan dialect and with a bizzarre twist at the end.
Here and There- This is a story that I enjoyed very much. It is a dialectic account of the failure of a genius to love. It has an anti-ending similar to Infinite Jest, though, which many find troublesome.
My Appearance- This may be the best story in the collection. It explores the conflicting themes of sincerity/naivite and irony/cynicism. It also stars David Letterman.
Say Never- This story was about a man who cheats on his wife and then with his brother's girlfriend, and then confesses. It is told from his p.o.v., the brother's, and their mother's friend Labov. I didn't like this one that much, but the style is, as usual, amazing.
Everything is Green- This one is only two pages long and doesnt make any sense as far as I can tell. If it were more than two pages long, I might advise skipping it. But then, if it were more than two pages long, it might be good.
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way- This novella made me think alot, about stories and postmodernism and commercialism. I liked it alot. However, like Barth's Lost in the Funhouse that inspired it, at the end I did not understand it.
On the whole, this is an excellent collection and there is something to like about each piece, except maybe Everything is Green. I recommend it and Infinte Jest to pretty much anybody.

I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I feel that I'm a pretty well-read guy. I love David Foster Wallace. I'm even on an e-mail list devoted to the guy, but I'm not a huge fan of this collection.
I loved 'Infinite Jest', 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again' and 'Broom of the System', but it seems that Wallace's short fiction is *very* difficult to read.
You could compare this collection to Wallace's more recent 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men' if you wanted, but I think you'd find them terribly different. 'Brief Interviews' seems to have a coherent theme throught, but 'Girl' seems to be nothing but a terribly challenging puzzle.
There are, of course upsides. I found 'The Jeopary Story' to be terribly funny and I also thought that 'Westward the Course of Empire Makes Its Way' was very well written. Yet falling downs include the title piece and some of the other, sometimes terribly short, stories.
You have to wonder sometimes if Wallace isn't just being difficult on purpose. Thinking to himself, "could I possibly make this more difficult?"
If you're new to Wallace, pick up his collection of non-fiction essays, the previously mentioned 'A Supposedly Fun thing I'll Never Do Again'. Wallace is a terribly funny writer and his amazing talent shines in his non-fiction work. 'Infinite Jest' is damn good as well, but not for the casual reader.