Reviews

I'd read most of the stories in this collection years ago, but I finally got around to slogging my way through the novella-length "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way" over the past few months, and I'm mostly just glad to be done with it. I understand now why Wallace had this to say about it:

"My idea in 'Westward' was to do with metafiction what Moore’s poetry or like DeLillo’s 'Libra' had done with other mediated myths. I wanted to get the Armageddon-explosion, the goal metafiction’s always been about, I wanted to get it over with, and then out of the rubble reaffirm the idea of art being a living transaction between humans, whether the transaction was erotic or altruistic or sadistic. God, even talking about it makes me want to puke. The 'pretension.' Twenty-five year-olds should be locked away and denied ink and paper. Everything I wanted to do came out in the story, but it came out just as what it was: crude and naive and pretentious."

dr_evan's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.25

balbert1525's review against another edition

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challenging funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I love the story here and there. All of the other stories were good but I was not a fan of Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.

lukereads97's review against another edition

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Maybe another time, Dave

agtre's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.0

bunburyist's review against another edition

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4.0

I love the depth of his writing. This collection was a really slow read for me. I can be a slow reader when I'm completely engrossed in a story. I kid you not - the 140 pages of Westward took me 8-10 hours to read. Now I need to pick up a copy of Barth's "Lost in the Funhouse."

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