The Power Broker by Robert Caro and/or Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

[quido8_5]

For some reason I decided to tackle both of these behemoths simultaneously. The Power Broker chronicles, with astonishing detail and staggering reporting, the rise and moral-decline of Robert Moses, arguably the most important New Yorker of the 20th century. It's more than a biography, it's also something like a blow-by-blow description of how power moves. It's unbelievable and have yet to find too many folks who have read it (not unreasonable, given it's 1000+ page length). If anyone is familiar with Caro's newer work-the trilogy on LBJ- I believe they have similarly beautiful prose for a non-fiction book. At this point, it's in contention with Solomon's Far from the Tree for my favorite non-fiction book. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and, by that point in Far from the Tree, my whole life had been reoriented as a result. We'll see if Caro can manage the life-changing impact of Solomon.

Infinite Jest, meanwhile, is hardly user friendly but I'm finding myself loving it. The style can be tiresome; however, it's not that difficult to get acclimated to it and the style often allows for a type of leaping prose that is incredible to read. Most of all, when the book is on, it is on. Scenes that come to mind: Mario's script, chock full of lines like, "Try to learn to let what is unfair teach you" or the description of Himself's suicide , or anything with Don Gaitly. The chapter that has stuck with me and never let go, though, is Winter B.S. 1960 with it's alcohol drenched diction and brutal honesty.

Just thought I throw it out there and see if any one had an opinion.

[Milky Joe]

I haven't read TPB but I consider Infinite Jest to be *the* great 21st century novel (in English at any rate and yes, I know it was written in the early 1990s). It's astonishing in a way that very few books are. I draw a straight line from Joyce to Gaddis to Wallace in terms of the great 20th century writers.

[quido8_5]

I draw a straight line from Joyce to Gaddis to Wallace in terms of the great 20th century writers.

I can see this, definitely. The prose is some of the most thrilling and brilliant I've read in a long time. It's so refreshing to have an author compared to Joyce that wasn't just aping Joyce's style. Wallace earns that comparison. We'll have to see how the next 600 pages go in order to compare it to "Portrait of an Artist" or "Ulysses". I haven't read any of his other works, but a good friend tells me that some of DFW's non-fiction is pretty brilliant.

[quido8_5]

Ok, so I Identify with Don Gately's storyline, but damn if that section doesn't contain some of the most breathtaking prose of the decade.

[Yxklyx]

Hmm, I was gifted The Power Broker by a close relative some years ago but never got to it because it didn't seem like something I'd be interested in. I'm about to sell or give away a bunch of books so maybe I'll start digging in. I came to this thread because of Infinite Jest which I've not read but am considering to. The only book of his I've read is A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and it's one of my favorites in recent memory - but I was never able to get far into Ulysses (two attempts) so I'm not sure if it's something for me. Why are these two books mentioned in the same thread OP? [These members are probably no longer here...]