false 6748 7 David Foster Wallace made quite a splash in 1996 with his massive novel, <I>Infinite Jest.</I> Now he's back with this collection of essays. In addition to a razor-sharp writing style, Wallace has a mercurial mind that lights on many subjects. His seven essays travel from a state fair in Illinois to a cruise ship in the Caribbean, explore how television affects literature and what makes film auteur David Lynch tick, and deconstruct deconstructionism and find the intersection between tornadoes and tennis. These eclectic interests are enhanced by an eye (and nose) for detail: "I have seen sucrose beaches and water a very bright blue. I have seen an all-red leisure suit with flared lapels. I have smelled what suntan lotion smells like spread over 21,000 pounds of hot flesh . . ." It's evident that Wallace revels in both the life of the mind and the peculiarities of his fellows; in <I>A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again</I> he celebrates both. 574 2 2 1998 A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments total:3456|5:1458|4:1385|3:481|2:96|1:36| 3456 14501 5487 456 5 21 false false Sun Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 08:25:38 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 22:29:33 -0800 2009
1. Mill around on the concrete like inmates always do in "the y...more...]]> 4 20 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 18 17:41:40 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 15 23:06:08 -0800 2008 2 after: Oh for fuck's sake, I don't know what to say. Despite the below, it was really difficult for me to pick up this book, and then to really actually read it through, and not feel like a stupid bandwagon-jumper. I mean, the whole thing's just mind-blowingly sad. And it was really hard to not read...more...]]> 5 10 false false Thu Jul 05 18:14:55 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 16:06:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 9 false false Mon Sep 15 19:01:40 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 09 10:56:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 22 false false Sun Apr 08 18:17:21 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 02 20:54:40 -0700 2008 4 2 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 14 15:39:21 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 29 00:51:23 -0800 2007 the title essay: occasionally laugh-out-loud.
the two tennis essays: actually interesting to a non tennis player.
the illinois state fair essay: hilarious.
the essay about literary criticism/theory: completely confusing, but res...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Feb 17 13:15:29 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 08:26:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Nov 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Oct 06 14:24:38 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 21 12:40:23 -0800 2008 ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 20:14:15 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 20:44:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 2 false false Fri Jul 11 13:39:45 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 15:39:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Mar 02 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 17:08:31 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 14:23:44 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Aug 15 16:32:54 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 16:36:41 -0700 2007
Picture, if you will:

...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Sep 16 21:08:55 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 10:12:28 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 16:38:58 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 19 16:55:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jan 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 12:22:53 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 12:30:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 16:37:21 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 16:45:30 -0700 2009 Anti-Journalist/Copyeditor’s Nightmare/The Guy I Want to Pass Notes With In The Back Row

David Foster Wallace has this blinkey-blinkey “Who, me?” shtick about being a journalist that is so utterly ass-kicking that as of this moment forth I am going to break every neo-Greco Victoria...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Sun Sep 14 06:09:42 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 06:14:13 -0700 2008 3? more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 18:57:17 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 19:19:17 -0700 2009
Really 3 essays in one: an on-the-set report about Lost Highway, satirical expose about the production of a Hollywood film, and a personal account of the significance of Lynch's work in Wallace's own life. The piece was not helped by is...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 20 13:25:49 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 09:48:59 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 07:06:20 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 17:17:14 -0700 2009