This week's discussion is loosely based around the story Octet, but really we just drill down on what David Foster Wallace is trying to achieve in this collection (and whether or not he succeeds).

How much metafiction is too much metafiction, does DFW stray into self-indulgence, the leap of faith he asks from his readers, is it possible to tactically and deliberately try to be sincere (or is this another double bind), and whether Brief Interviews is really about toxic masculinity.

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) The paradox of trying to come across as sincere
• (00:09:16) Overdosing on DFW’s schtick
• (00:18:05) is Wallace stylistically rangebound as a writer?
• (00:22:29) DFW’s take on empathising with the reader
• (00:25:57) Is Brief Interviews really about toxic masculinity?
• (00:32:49) Wittgenstein and the language problem/solipsism

Wallace's 1999 collection of short stories takes us to some uncomfortable places (and as always, is eerily prescient).

In this week's discussion we talk about his 'juvenilia' coming-of-age story Forever Overhead, his famous piece The Depressed Person, and a smattering of the titular brief interviews.

We kinda fucked up the format on this by trying to talk about everything. But salvaged some bits about nostalgia, the blurred lines between narcissism and depression, therapy culture, and why metafiction is played out.

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) quick blather and disclaimer
• (00:01:55) Forever Overhead: mainlining nostalgia of late childhood
• (00:09:04) starting to get sick of DFW’s tics and the metafiction schtick in general
• (00:14:54) Brief Interview #11 (the guy who keeps leaving his gf because she is worried about him leaving her again)
• (00:17:52) Brief Interview #3 (the airport shaggy dog story)
• (00:20:40) Brief Interview #31 (how a great lover really pleases a lady)
• (00:26:02) The Depressed Person: sincere or a satire of self-obsessed narcissists?
• (00:34:14) is identifying with this character a massive self-own
• (00:37:30) Should everyone really go to therapy?
• (00:44:24) Having a cute baby as cure for depression

An anticlimactic final discussion to an anticlimactic book. We are confused and afraid. Cam is on the brink of quitting reading altogether.

This discussion covers Parts 2 and 3 of To The Lighthouse. Actual book-related content starts at 11 minutes.

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) Normative ethics and incest cold open
• (00:11:00) Infectiousness of social energy
• (00:15:16) The Chad Carmichael vs the Virgin Tansley
• (00:22:16) Entropy and the passage of time
• (00:26:21) Lily Briscoe as Virginia Woolf
• (00:33:00) sidebar on which book to read next
• (00:34:32) On finally getting to the lighthouse
• (00:42:22) What's the significance of Lily's painting?
• (00:43:48) Final thoughts on why this book gave us trouble