Zadie Smith on David Foster Wallace

British author Zadie Smith is very high on my must-read list. She's been in the media quite a bit lately with the release of her new book, "On Beauty." (Listen to radio interviews with her here and here.) I love what she has to say about literature and writing. Last month, she was in O, the Oprah magazine, where she wrote about what literature means to her and picked out her favorite books. (This is a regular feature in O -- just about every month a celebrity picks out their favorite books and why. It's usually fascinating.)
So one of Smith's favorite books was David Foster Wallace's "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men." Smith writes:

Wallace is not for everyone, but he is for me. My blind spot in my own work is "the evil that men do." I think I know a thing or two about the way people love, but I don't know anything about hatred, psychosis, cruelty. Or maybe I don't have the guts to admit that I do. Wallace writes brilliantly about hideous men and hideous women and the hideous culture that produces them.

Read the rest of her take on Wallace here and read about her philosophy of literature here.
Her take on that book is interesting because I've been feeling a bit guilty about my recent post on "Brief Interviews" where I wrote "the characters were horrible, and I felt like Wallace was mocking them." (Read the full post here. ) I'll be the first to admit that might be a misreading the stories. Not all writing should be about love, happiness, etc. As readers, we have to grapple with the ugly, the cruel and the unjust without insisting on black-and-white moral certitude or sentimental mawkishness. Maybe I should go back and re-read "Brief Interviews." It's certainly rich enough to merit a second read and a re-thinking.
On the other hand, if I do that, when will I ever get to Wallace's "Oblivion"? I need more time to read!