Apart from stating, "If you want a linear read, this biography is not for you. If you’re a Wallace fan, however, you’re not looking for a linear book, " which is not true (unless one counts the placement of all front and end matters together at the beginning and Lipsky's asides as non-linear??), Alicia J. Rouverol's Christian Science Monitor review of Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace is a positive one:
It will either drive you mad, or you will love it for all its messiness. One thing is certain: If you didn’t already love Wallace, this book will make you love him.There are things here that fans or friends may take umbrage with: disclosures Wallace himself might not have appreciated (his comments about other writers); possible outcomes of the book tour (you’ll have to read the boook to find out); and asides that could detract, if you let them.
But focus on the book’s form or its hiccups and you will miss its purpose. Lipsky, I believe, is being purposefully messy or expansive, a critique some reviewers made of “Infinite Jest.”
The purpose is to get us inside Wallace’s head, and Lipsky takes us there. More aptly, he doesn’t interrupt Wallace as he takes us there. We get to see every synapse firing.
But focus on the book’s form or its hiccups and you will miss its purpose. Lipsky, I believe, is being purposefully messy or expansive, a critique some reviewers made of “Infinite Jest.”
The purpose is to get us inside Wallace’s head, and Lipsky takes us there. More aptly, he doesn’t interrupt Wallace as he takes us there. We get to see every synapse firing.
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You can read the Introduction, Preface, Afterword and a couple more ages over at the Random House site.
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