I went to a reading of his when he came to San Francisco for this one, where he explained that the style of the "footnotes" for "Host" was a result of the typesetters meticulously following the manuscript, which had post-it notes strewn across the margins with arrows drawn onto where the footnote numbers were meant to go. He semeed a bit sheepish that the book publishers, unlike the editors for the magazine where it appeared, took this as actual intent on his part and reproduced the style as best they could.
But intentional or not, it did make for a challenging read. Have you ever tried Mark Z Danielewski's novel _House of Leaves_? It does a lot of similar things with typesetting, used to wonderful effect.
Sounds much like the stylistic aesthetic of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I'll have to look it up next time I'm at the bookstore.
Have you tried his first collection of essays, A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING THAT I'LL NEVER DO AGAIN? Similarly excellent stuff, including standout travel pieces where he spends a week on a modern cruise ship and visits the Iowa State Fair. The Cruise Ship essay is one of my favorite pieces of all time (up there with Fussell's "A Power Of Facing Unpleasant Facts").
I loved "Host" when it was printed in The Atlantic Monthly. Ziegler's obession with OJ is truly disturbing.
I haven't read Infinite Jest, but I have read The Broom of the System, which was admirably loopy.
Coincedence? I just finished reading "Lobster" when I read the X-Axis today.
A blog after my own heart: Professional Wrestling and David Foster Wallace. For the Wallace uninitiated, I'd suggest The Girl With Curious Hair. It's a little more straightforward than the rest, and it's as funny as any of his other works. Of course, I mean that as a Primer. Infinite Jest is one of my all time favorite works.
I've consistently told people to read David Foster Wallace, and the fact that I've been hearing others more and more mention his works shows that quality will out. Even his Everything and More, which was a long math book, was terrific. There may not be a smarter writer alive than Wallace.
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