Questions About This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

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Answered Questions (3)

Why is the hardcover edition 138 pages while the Kindle edition is only 16?

Gaurav Andreas In the hardcover edition, the speech is broken into snippets of about three or four lines and a whole page is dedicated to a single snippet. A whole l…moreIn the hardcover edition, the speech is broken into snippets of about three or four lines and a whole page is dedicated to a single snippet. A whole lot of blank space.
That is why.(less)

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What age would be appropriate for someone to start reading this book?

Allie DFW gave this speech for a crowd of graduating college seniors and their families. Practically, I would say it's a family-friendly read as far as lang…moreDFW gave this speech for a crowd of graduating college seniors and their families. Practically, I would say it's a family-friendly read as far as language, but the content, while overall pretty heartening, can be heavy. It has deep implications about the harsh tediums of adult life. There are mentions of suicide, atheism, etc. These are all topics addressed by American high school English classes.

Intellectually, DFW cuts no corners, but he was giving a speech, so I'm one for thinking this is a little more digestible than his other works.

So: what age would be appropriate? I would say probably most high school students would be able to process the content of this speech. But in my mind, unless they're more thoughtful than most they might not appreciate what DFW has to say about adult life until they go out and live it themselves. Hope that helps!(less)

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I watched the commencement speech on YouTube, is this just speech to text transcription of that speech or anything different? Should I read it?

Don Mcrae It is the commencement speech.

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