''Brief Interviews with Hideous Men'' is a
short story collection
A short story collection is a book of short stories and/or novellas by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an anthology of fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., ''Les Soirées de Médan''). The s ...
by the late American writer
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...
, first published in 1999 by
Little, Brown
Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...
. According to the papers in the David Foster Wallace Archive at the
Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
,
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
,
the book had an estimated gross sales of 28,000
hardcover copies during the first year of its publication.
Themes and analysis
The 23
metafictional
Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...
pieces in the collection are "difficult to categorise, roaming wilfully across the boundaries of genres and inventing new ones", which one story ("Octet") appears to "self-mockingly acknowledge".
Four of the stories are titled "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" and consist of numbered sections of varying length presented as transcripts of interviews with male subjects. The interviewer's questions are omitted from the transcripts, rendered merely as "Q". The collection is characterized by dark humor, alienation and irony.
As its title suggests, the book critiques aspects of modern masculinity and
male chauvinism. "The 'hideous men' in Wallace's short stories are monstrous, parodic versions of
Updikean characters, scrutinized with the eye of a pathologist ... Their sin is an implacable, and peculiarly American, strain of egoism."
In light of revelations regarding Wallace’s abusive behavior toward
Mary Karr
Mary Karr (born January 16, 1955) is an American poet, essayist and memoirist from East Texas. She is widely noted for her 1995 bestselling memoir ''The Liars' Club''. Karr is the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracus ...
,
some scholars have questioned the motives of Wallace’s stories, particularly in the collection which prominently featured misogynistic male characters. Amy Hungerford, a professor of English at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, most notably in her book ''Making Literature Now'',
posed the same question for the collection and whether we can separate the art from the artist. She concluded in the negative and argued that readers and academics should stop reading and teaching Wallace's work. Clare Hayes-Brady, a leading female Wallace scholar, responded to Hungerford's assertion in an interview with the ''
Los Angeles Review of Books
The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...
'' by emphasizing that it is the duty of a critic or scholar to engage with problematic authors and examine them closely for what they bring to the table rather than dismissing them outright.
In recent times, Wallace's work, and this collection in particular, has attracted the attention of scholars and academics, with some arguing that although Wallace's behavior is unforgivable, ''Brief Interviews with Hideous Men'' can be a source of study for possible explanation on the misogynistic traits and behavior of the male gender.
Critical reception
The collection was selected by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' as one of the notable books of the year 1999.
In 1997 Wallace was awarded the
Aga Khan Prize for Fiction
The Aga Khan Prize for Fiction was awarded by the editors of ''The Paris Review'' for what they deem to be the best short story published in the magazine in a given year. The last prize was given in 2004. No applications were accepted. The winner ...
by the editors of''
The Paris Review
''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...
'' for "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men #6",
which had appeared in the magazine and appears as "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men #20" in the collection.
The collection is one of writer
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...
’s favorite books.
She wrote an appreciation of both the collection and Wallace titled "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men: The Difficult Gifts of David Foster Wallace". The piece was included in her 2009 essay collection ''Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays''.
The British writer and literary critic for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'',
Chris Power
Chris Power is a British writer and literary critic for ''The Guardian''.
He was born in 1975 and grew up in Farnborough, Hampshire. He studied English and American literature at Swansea University, graduating in 1998.
He has worked as an advert ...
, highlights the dilemma book critics face in reviewing Wallace's works: to reconcile the brilliance of his writing with the difficult and often problematic aspects of his subject matter. In a piece on Wallace’s contribution to the short story, Power writes, "His second collection, for example, ''Brief Interviews With Hideous Men'' (1999), is a brilliant book that is very difficult to enjoy."
Writer and book critic
Andrew Ervin
Andrew Ervin (1971) is an American writer whose debut 2010 novella collection ''Extraordinary Renditions'' (Coffee House Press) was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2010. His 2015 debut novel ''Burning Down George Orwell ...
writing in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'' was of the opinion that the collection "stands as Wallace's most compelling, brilliant and complete book."
Performances and adaptations
The book has been adapted numerous times for stage and screen.
In August 2000, 12 of the "Interviews" were adapted into a stage play (''Hideous Men'') by Dylan McCullough, marking the first theatrical adaptation of any of Wallace's works.
McCullough directed the premiere at the
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across sev ...
.
John Krasinski adapted and directed
a 2009 film version of the "Brief Interviews" stories.
Julianne Nicholson
Julianne Nicholson (born July 1, 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films '' August: Osage County'' (2013) and '' Blonde'' (2022), as well as the television series '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2006–2009) ...
plays Sara Quinn, the interviewer unnamed in the stories.
Also in 2009,
Hachette Audio released an abridged audiobook production of the book read by an ensemble cast similar to that of Krasinski's film, including Krasinski,
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular char ...
,
Bobby Cannavale,
Chris Messina
Christopher Messina (born August 11, 1974)Hochberg, Mina.Chris Messina stars in 'Ruby Sparks'. ''Newsday'' (Long Island, New York). August 8, 2012: “...the actor, who turns 38 Saturday ugust 11, 2012 After graduating from Northport ew Yor ...
,
Corey Stoll
Corey Stoll (born March 14, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Congressman Peter Russo on the Netflix political thriller series ''House of Cards'' (2013–2016), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination in 2013 ...
,
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV ( ; born June 17, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Forte is known for being a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (2002–2010), a recurring character on the show leading to a feature film ada ...
, and the author.
In August 2012, British artists
Andy Holden and David Raymond Conroy presented a stage adaptation of the book at the
ICA, London, which later toured to
Arnolfini
Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...
, Bristol. The production adapted four of the interviews and one short story using a variety of multimedia techniques, and contained new music by
the Grubby Mitts.
A stage production adapting 21 of the interviews and stories, titled "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men", was directed by David McGuff for Yellow Lab Productions. The production ran three nights, August 28–30, 2014, at the Hill Country Arts Foundation's Point Theater on the Elizabeth Huth Coates indoor stage.
In 2021, the book was adapted for the stage in a German-language production titled ''Kurze Interviews mit fiesen Männern – 22 Arten der Einsamkeit''. The production was staged at the
Schauspielhaus Zürich
The Schauspielhaus Zürich ( en, Zürich playhouse) is one of the most prominent and important theatres in the German-speaking world. It is also known as "Pfauenbühne" (Peacock Stage). The large theatre has 750 seats. The also operates three s ...
and directed by
Yana Ross
Yana Ross is a Latvian-American director.
Career
She directed the plays ''Sleeping Beauty'' and ''Bambiland'' by Elfriede Jelinek, and has worked internationally from Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz to Seoul Performing Arts Festival in So ...
.
Translation
The book has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Polish, Turkish, Portuguese, Czech, Finnish, Greek, German, Russian, Dutch, Serbian, French, Croatian and Hebrew.
References
External links
*
{{David Foster Wallace
1999 short story collections
Short story collections by David Foster Wallace
Metafictional works
Books adapted into films
Little, Brown and Company books