Cultural criticism; on television, fiction (and fiction-writing), postmodernity and irony.
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Mar 13, 2011
Meredith
rated it: 
"For 360 minutes per diem, we receive unconscious reinforcement of the deep thesis that the most significant feature of truly alive persons is watchableness, and that genuine human worth is not just identical with but rooted in the phenomenon of watching."
"Six hours a day is more time than most people (consciously) do any one thing."
low art, "the sort of art that tries too hard to please"
"Television is the way it is simply because More...
"Six hours a day is more time than most people (consciously) do any one thing."
low art, "the sort of art that tries too hard to please"
"Television is the way it is simply because More...
Aug 11, 2009
Kevin
rated it:
DFW argues that the things that are plaguing this generation - self-consciousness, loneliness, addiction - are reinforced by television, but he manages to do so without degenerating into hysteria about social decay, ect, and makes doing so seem quaint and unreasoned.
He also outlines fiction's response to television in the form of irony and postmodernism and how unfulfilling and unsuccessful these responses are.
I find myself thinking about television in a completely diffe More...
He also outlines fiction's response to television in the form of irony and postmodernism and how unfulfilling and unsuccessful these responses are.
I find myself thinking about television in a completely diffe More...
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Jan 14, 2008
Very nice article - first piece of Wallace's nonfiction I've read.
Few piecfes of wisdom: TV appeals to lowest common denominator, which happens to be crude humor rather than our individual, sophisticated interstes.
Does not really condemn or attack TV that brutally - but expresses devout disapproval of this 6-hour a day addiction.
Perhaps the most intersting part as far as current trends in US fiction is his comments on irony and allusion in television. He is of the opinion that More...
Few piecfes of wisdom: TV appeals to lowest common denominator, which happens to be crude humor rather than our individual, sophisticated interstes.
Does not really condemn or attack TV that brutally - but expresses devout disapproval of this 6-hour a day addiction.
Perhaps the most intersting part as far as current trends in US fiction is his comments on irony and allusion in television. He is of the opinion that More...
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