Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, part 2: If you can fake sincerity you’ve got it made

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.

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