Finishing up David Foster Wallace’s Oblivion now

…and boy, am I having an emotional reaction to his language. He is, as you know, one of the few and talented true artists of word-choice, which sometimes eclipses or obscures your (my) broader attention to the work at hand. “Copse” was my plan for 2005 and here he uses it three times, twice in one story, no kidding, and even repeats other less common words over in such a way that leads you to think that perhaps a word like “whitecap” is as near his grasp as “sea foam” and he doesn’t even notice the second instance of what for many other writers would be a risk in the first. Words, astonishing ones, on every page.

Also, Good Old Neon is one of the best and most beautifully remote stories I have EVER read and I am thinking about making xeroxes and sending it out in my christmas packages so everyone can read it.

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