I’ve seen David Foster Wallace do book readings twice. The first time was after I’d read the only thing I’d ever read by him, the short story “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men,” which I’d hated. But I owned Infinite Jest (still unread, by the way) and was an English major after all, so I went to check him out. I enjoyed that reading so much that I later bought his book of short stories called Oblivion (he had read “Incarnations of Burned Children” from that book—the least humorous piece of the evening). I tried to read some of the other stories but wasn’t enjoying it and gave up. I went back to see another reading of his awhile later (the one linked to below), and again loved it. I’m not sure if my love/hate relationship with him says more about him or me, but it says something, I’m sure, about someone.

David Foster Wallace @ the Hammer (KCET podcast mp3)—”The View from Mrs. Thompson’s”—his piece on 9/11 for Rolling Stone (quickly written as the deadline was 9/15/01) (piece is in the book of non-fiction essays Consider the Lobster)

I have never seen Joan Didion speak or do a reading. I went to the reading that’s linked to below, but couldn’t get in to get a seat. (Side note: I believe the introduction in this podcast, which comments on the sold-out crowd, is given by Mona Simpson, whom I had as a professor at UCLA and in whose class I read “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.”) I have not read Joan Didion extensively (there’s a lot of ground to cover); however, I have loved every bit I’ve read by her: Play It As It Lays (fiction), The White Album (essays), After Henry (essays), some of Slouching Towards Bethlehem (essays). I also own Where I Was From and Democracy, and have great plans to read and enjoy them in the future.

Joan Didion @ the Hammer (KCET pocast mp3)—reading from The Year of Magical Thinking about the year following the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne.

This entry was posted on May 29, 2007 and is filed under literature, to read.