Why do I feel like reading Wallace is such a chore? Without a doubt, Wallace’s insights are illuminating. He understands the human condition well, especially the emotions that plague us in our modern condition: boredom, angst, the fear that we’re constantly never doing enough and the exhaustion that accompanies our meager attempts at doing more.

Unfortunately, it takes him 20 pages to get to this point, and by page 15, I’m already thinking of my next meal.