"All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy" is nothing short of a complete rethinking of what a novel can and should be.

It's true that, taken on its own, All Work is plotless. But like the best of Beckett, the lack of forward momentum is precisely the point.

If it's nearly impossible to read, let us take a moment to consider how difficult it must have been to write.

From the archive:

The challenge? Take any movie and cut a new trailer for it — but in an entirely different genre.

And just recently:

If I had to name one high-cultural notion that had died in my adult lifetime, it would be the idea that difficulty is artistically desirable.

From last year:

Paradoxically, as cures for boredom have proliferated, people do not seem to feel less bored; they simply flee it with more energy.

All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy