David Foster Wallace

I mentioned the new David Foster Wallace essay collection before, "Consider The Lobster," and it's linked over in the sidebar, but just another note on it -- I read one of the essays today over lunch, and it was really, really terrific.  It's called "Up, Simba," and it's an account of a few days he spent as a reporter covering John McCain during the 2000 primary season.  It's probably the best thing I've ever read about a political campaign and what it's like to be a member of the media covering it, and it's a terrific profile of McCain.  It makes me want to go back and re-read Michael Lewis's book, Trail Fever, which I remember as being excellent but I can't imagine it sustains the excellence of Wallace's piece throughout, because I don't know if anything can.  It's a really terrific piece.  Best piece in the book, although everything in there is pretty readable and interesting.  The piece on the Maine Lobster Festival is probably my next favorite.

Comments

[Sean]

Just this weekend I read a long essay in an earlier book about a trip he had taken on a cruise ship. He's really a brilliant writer.

[PG]

Have you read Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72? I haven't done enough drug to be a true HST fan, but it's great stuff.