I Just Read About That…

[LISTENED TO: End of October 2010] Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

There are three options for listening to Brief Interviews.

The first version is the original audio cassette which is read entirely by DFW (1999).  It’s out of print but you can download the audio for free at the David Foster Wallace Audio Project. The second version is the newly released audio book that coincides with John Krasinski’s film (2009).  This CD features some of the readings by DFW although most of the actual interviews are read by the actors from the film (see below for all details).  The third option is a collection of staged readings which were created by The Howling Fantods Brief Interviews Project.  They are available at the site and at the David Foster Wallace Audio Project.  [UPDATE Nov. 8: For the sake of accuracy, I wanted to state that George Carr is responsible for all of the work down for these recordings.  The Howling Fantods site simply hosted the results].

None of these recordings include all of the stories from the book.  Although the stories that they do include are unedited (this is officially listed as “unedited selections from the book”).  The stories that are not included in any of these recordings are:  creepy organ music

• “The Depressed Person”  [this would have been a tour de force to read]
• “The Devil Is a Busy Man”
• “Think”
• “Signifying Nothing”
• “Datum Centurio” [I can’t imagine trying to read this out loud]
  
• “Octet”
• “Adult World (I)”
• “Adult World (II)” [I would have liked to hear how these were handled]
• “The Devil Is a Busy Man”
• “Church Not Made with Hands”
• “Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (XI)”
• “Tri-Stan: I Sold Sissee Nar to Ecko” [this is my least favorite bit of DFW work and I would have really liked to have heard it read aloud to see if I could get anything more out of it].
• “On His Deathbed, Holding Your Hand, the Acclaimed New Young Off-Broadway Playwright’s Father Begs a Boon”

In the first audio book, DFW reads all of the stories.  His reading style is a sort of flat (but not monotone) delivery.  It’s almost like the perfect midwestern non-accent.  He very rarely raises his voice and refrains from over-emoting.  This is an interesting choice (whether it is a choice or just the way he reads aloud is something I’m not prepared to go into) because what you get is a sort of uninterpreted take on these pieces.  It’s the same effect as when you read it yourself…you have to decide what to make of them.  Of course, his delivery is consistent and solid throughout.  With stories like “Forever Overhead,” his style is intoxicatingly rhythmic.  And he really sounds convincing during the interviews, like he is embodying the men, not just reading a transcript.

(1999)

When you download the audio book, you get:

Intro. All of the official info about the book & technical specs.
A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life.  His delivery works very well here.
Death is Not the End. There are two footnotes in this story.  After the first he says “return to text” which is helpful.  The second one is harder to figure.  Because it sits at the end of the story, it’s not entirely clear if it is for the whole story or just the last sentence.  The print version makes that clearer.
Forever Overhead.  Hearing this scene aloud certainly brings a resonance to it.
[the Interviews have an author’s note that Q stands for “question.”]
Brief Interview #14. The “totally fucking weird” is really funny.
Brief Interview #15. Even the “motherfucking gag” part is understated.
Brief Interview #11. You can hear a slight change of tone in his voice, a bit more hostility.
Brief Interview #30. I laugh every time I hear him say “Drury.”
Brief Interview #36. The “okay bitch” is a little understated, but effective.
Brief Interview #51. He brings this one to life.
Brief Interview #31. He puts a little twang on it.
Brief Interview #40. A sort of southern accent on this one too.  The noises he makes at his trembling lip are quite amusing.
Brief Interview #42. He seems quite in his element with this story.
Brief Interview #2. Enough emphases to bring this to life, although perhaps too understated.
Brief Interview #19. This sounds believable coming from him. Although I feel like the “c’mere” at the end is not stated right (although he would know).
Brief Interview #46. This is a really intense story.  His downplayed reading makes you think about the words, not the intensity of the speaker.
Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (VI).
Suicide as a Sort of Present. This is a very dark story and somehow, DFW’s reading makes it all the sadder.
Brief Interview #20.  Like 46, the buildup (especially at the end) never rises to a scream.  He speaks it and somehow it is powerful despite or perhaps because of the lack of emotion.
Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (XXIV).
Outro The Outro is wonderful, DFW repeats that he is not a professional actor.  It’s a nice humorous touch to the end of the book.

So this is an interesting collection of pieces.  Left out are: Brief Interviews 3, 28, 59 and 72.  I understand that some things could not be included for space reasons (and the stories with overlapping narrators (28 & 59) make sense.  But I wonder why, for instance, some of the other short pieces were not included here.  Like why not include #72 (it’s only a minute or so long).

It’s an excellent way to hear DFW read his stories, and the varied styles make it a treat to hear his approach to his stories.

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2009

The second version (the “movie tie-in,” for lack of better way of describing it) features a similar line up.  What’s strange (or maybe not really that strange) is that some of the actors from the movie are not represented here.  (Where’s Wil Arnett?).

The stories read by DFW are the same as the cassette version:

A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life. This story opens the audio book with no kind of introduction at all.  It is quite disconcerting (and the title of this story is never given).  Although at the end of the story, all of the introductory credits are finally given.
Death is Not the End.
Forever Overhead. This has an incredibly egregious error in the pressing.  The final section of the story (when he gets to the ladder and the man addresses him) is placed almost immediately after he gets out of the pool (which really messes with you).  It is repeated again at the end (so you don’t totally lose the story), but man, that’s horrible.
Brief Interview #11 (Will Arnett in the movie).
Brief Interview #30 (Timothy Hutton in the movie).
Brief Interview #31 (Clarke Peters in movie).
Brief Interview #36 [mistakenly unlisted in audiobook].
Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (VI).
Suicide as a Sort of Present.
Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (XXIV).

The remainder of the disc includes: [* means not on the original cassette]

Brief Interview #14 Ben Shenkman (in the movie). A solid reading, with good self-deprecating humor and embarrassment.  The “victory” part is quite funny.
Brief Interview #15 Michael Cerveris (in the movie). Very understated and formal.  Even when putting the “motherfucking gag in.”
*Brief Interview #3 Christopher Meloni  & Dennis O’Hare (both in the movie). Good give and take.  The storyteller seems a bit more natural than the answerer (not sure who is who).  When he gets angry with the other guy, he’s very believable (and the “with the tits” bits are spot on).
Brief Interview #40 Bobby Cannavale (in the movie). Cannavale’s voice is very deep and dark and very conversational.  It’s interesting to see the different way he does the “make my lip tremble” bit.
Brief Interview #42 Malcolm Goodwin (Frankie Faison in the movie). Solid reading especially all of the lists of disgusting bathroom sounds.
Brief Interview #2 Josh Charles (in the movie). Perhaps a little too understated, although still convincing.
Brief Interview #51 Cory Stoll (in the movie).  Gets quite outraged at the end, but the switch back to his normal speaking voice in the last line (“and then everything is fine”) is very good.
Brief Interview #19 Chris Messina (in the movie).  Fine reading.
Brief Interview #46 Bobby Cannavale (Dominic Cooper in the movie).  Certainly good for a Joisey accent.  This is a pretty harrowing account and he pulls it off very well.
*Brief Interview #58 Joey Slotnick (in the movie).  I had never considered that this person would have an accent, although it adds a lot to the story.
*Brief Interview #72 Will Forte (in the movie). I can’t escape the fact that this is Will Forte.  But since it’s very short, it’s not an overwhelming realization.  I can’t help think the ending should sound more frightened.
*Brief Interview #28 Lou Taylor Pucci & Max Mighella (both in the movie). One of the speakers (the more dominant one) has an educated British accent which adds a bit of pomposity to the story that I didn’t consider before.  Obviously the two men are post-graduate students but the accent adds something extra, a bit of snottiness perhaps.  They play off of each other very well, but when the snotty guy says he disagrees it sounds like he’s competing with the other man.
Brief Interview #20 John Krasinski (in the movie). This is an incredibly difficult story and Krasinski handles it very well.  He’s animated without being over the top.  He conveys the twist of emotions at the end with excellent dexterity and he clearly has the monologue down pat.  It’s really an excellent reading.

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2003

The third version (the Staged Readings) are sadly devoid of notations, so I’m not sure who gets credit for most of them.  There’s an explanation of how they came about here (and it’s quite an interesting story).  What I especially like about these readings is that the Q’s are stated by a woman (in the official releases, the reader says the Q) and she has several different types of Q.  In the printed stories, some of the Qs are italicized, and you can hear it in the reading.  (The story of her reading the parts is amusing as well).

The interviews include:  [* means not on the original cassette, ** means not on the CD]

Brief Interview #14 The accent throws me on this one.  Because of the America First aspect, I’m not sure if it works. Although the “What do you think?” reactions are quite funny.
Brief Interview #15 More understated than the official reading, but also very well read. Very convincing.
Brief Interview #11 A solid reading.
*Brief Interview #3 The overlapped dialogue is done very well.  Although kind of like on the official one, the less talky guy seems a little stilted and unbelievable in the beginning.  The main talker is very solid, though.  An occasional slip in the dialogue, but the “with the tits” asides are very convincing.
Brief Interview #30 Good reading.  Interestingly, a different emphasis on the last words “How does it sound?” changes the ending a bit.
Brief Interview #31 A solid reading.  He’s got a heavy accent which surprised me (DFW’s is emphasized less), but it works very well for the darlin’.  He seems a bit stilted in the major monologue, but he’s got the little drug asides down very well.
Brief Interview #36 Good reading, although the final “Who?” seems off to me.
Brief Interview #40 This reading of “The Asset” is more convincing that the official.  He reads it with a southern accent that is more appropriate to the character than the more tough guy version in the official release.  And again, the sounds he makes when he makes his lip tremble is great.
Brief Interview #42 I found this bathroom reading to be more convincing than the official.  He is more understated and I think that works much better.
Brief Interview #2 I felt like this was the least convincing recording. It felt like he was “reading” it instead of embodying it. I can’t figure out what his accent is, though.
**Brief Interview #48 I’m unclear why this B.I. is not included anywhere else.  I love this reading.  Everything about the tone and style is perfect.  And it’s very funny, too.
Brief Interview #51 I think I also like this one better than the official.  The “okay bitch” part is less dramatic than in the official release, and I think is more real, more believable.
Brief Interview #19 This has a little more panache than the official release.
Brief Interview #46 Less threatening than the original, more subtle.  And I think maybe it works better as well.  [I’m sensing a theme here about under and over acting].
*Brief Interview #58 This eastern Russian accent is more convincing.
*Brief Interview #72 As with the official version the “look out” part seems less excited than I would think it justifies. It seems a little phony.
*Brief Interview #28 These two play off each other very well.  When contrasted with the more snooty reading of the official version, it’s funny how much more casual he sounds.  They both handle the difficult dialogue very well.
Brief Interview #20 This quiet reading has great dignity.  Again, this is an incredibly long and difficult piece.  It’s more understated than the official reading, and the voice is wonderful for this story.

[UPDATE: Nov 8]:

According to George Carr, here’s the list of readers for his Staged Interviews:

BI #2: Dave Kosky
BI #3: ?? & ??
BI #11: Martin Pangrace
BI #14: Tayyab Mahmud
BI #15: Larry Friedman
BI #19: Martin Pangrace
BI #20: George Carr
BI #28: Chris Johnston & ??
BI #30: Jordan Davis
BI #31: Lyman Millard
BI #36: ??
BI #40: George Carr
BI #42: John Coleman
BI #46: Randy Rollison
BI #48: Jordan Davis
BI #51: ??
BI #58: Nick Koesters
BI #72: Chris Johnston

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With so many options to choose from, you’re never at a loss for a good reading of these stories.  And they all have something to commend them. The staged readings are a real surprise treat.  They’re clearly read by fans of the book who put a lot of effort into them.  And that little extra bit of having a woman say the Qs, with inflection makes them seem much more like a conversation.  I feel fully immersed in DFW after a week of these audio books.  A perfect set up to read Consider DFW.