I mostly think Neal Pollack is an irritating jerk, but that was pretty funny.
Frey's comments on David Foster Wallace are right on target, though. I actually enjoy DFW's writing, but it's very cute and "smart". Showy. Frilly. "Expertly styled". Sometimes that's wonderful, as with the DFW essay linked by Unf back during the prescriptive grammar commentary. (I would have linked Unf's comment, but the Unfogged search engine fucking sucks! I'm so over that fucking bullshit man. I'm like, "I'm not gonna be part of that shit." Like. Fuck!)
Other times, though DFW's writing rings hollow. It's so self-conscious and ironical and "smart" that it becomes desperately boring -- unhuman. Infinite Jest...
Still, Frey's quite obnoxious, and he can't speak for shit. And what's so silly about his commentary is that he fails to acknowledge some of the obvious ways in which DFW is a great writer. (I can't speak to Eggers.) But let's face it, this just makes him interesting. We don't have to read his book, but we can enjoy the little stir he's creating.
And but also (DFW), you have to appreciate the nakedness of his grasping for the "Hemingway spot" of contemporary lit. The H spot? Ooh... touch me theeerrreee!
And get me another drink.
I'm still the greatest writer of our generation.
Boo.
You have to appreciate Neal Pollack's totally gratuitous Liz Phair reference, illuminated here:
...letters and sodas...
I can feel it in my bones
I'm gonna spend another night alone.
Fuck and run
Fuck and run
Ever since I was seventeen
Fuck and...
etc...
[lyrics] [audio sample ( (it kicks, baby)]
--"Fuck and Run" by Liz Phair, from Exile in Guyville