Review first:
- Mike Fischer's Journal Sentinel Online review. Spoilers:
James Campbell's review for The Wall Street Journal, A Cure for Head-Exploding Brilliance . Spoilers, plenty of them, including things about its conclusion... Probably the least positive review, and one most focused on reading his life into his work, that I've seen. I don't feel it's representative of the book at all:
There are almost 550 pages of wispy narrative threads, some of which show signs of what once seemed boundless linguistic and narrative gifts. The kindest way of looking at it is as an attempt at a cure, self-prescribed: For head-exploding brilliance, try boredom, the last-ditch remedy.
By writing in excruciatingly tedious detail about tax accountancy—he took classes in the subject as part of his preparation—Wallace hoped to dull himself into the state that those fortunate enough to know it call normality. Mr. Pietsch, a loyal and conscientious editor, says that he felt "unexpected joy" at the discovery of the files in Wallace's office, but not even he can expect the ordinary reader to rejoice in passages like this [...]
Non-review updates:
- The Guardian has an extract of Chapter 22 of The Pale King available for reading.
- Inside the List reports that The Pale King, "squeaks onto the hardcover fiction list at No. 16."
- The NYT Magazine Sentence of the Week has a Pale King Focus (spoilers).
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