Ben

Certified DFW hater clocking in: all build-up, no pay-off -- there are satisfying drafts of novellas on addiction and the pressures of youth sports somewhere in-between all the masturbatory excess of this.

DFW's attempt at writing a blaccent would even make Awkwafina blush.

fun fact: across all 1,079 pages of this work, there isn't a single woman character that isn't grossly objectified upon introduction by the author.

Standard DFW introduction be like: "She was an addict of many years, having spent countless nights combing her rug for flakes leftover from parties before. The only thing bigger than her grief was her hefty bust. Her quadruple D breasts would serve as airbags if she were to be pushed out of a moving car by a famous author. She was racist in all the correct ways."

Will always be one of my personal favorites -- positively unhinged, and brought me great comfort when I was just as unhinged in undergrad.

A novel-length poem: beautiful prose and an audacious, rhymical beating heart

Genuinely impressive translation, with much of the rhythm of the text kept across languages -- deftly weaves from sincere, to comical, to horrifying, to profound, back and forth without warning like the hands of history, so might as well enjoy the ride