Status Updates From String Theory: David Foster...

DFW’s footnotes style not working on Kindle. Waiting for physical copy from the library.

Really liked the first two essays! (Youth tennis + sports memoirs)

“…but the radical compression of his attention and self has allowed him to become a transcendent practitioner of an art. Something few of us get to be. It’s allowed him to visit and test parts of his psyche that most of us do not even know for sure we have, to manifest in concrete form virtues like courage, persistence in the face of pain or exhaustion, performance under wilting scrutiny and pressure.”

I appreciate that Wallace was able to get multiple publications to pay him to, in part, write about how much he hates Andre Agassi.

the Michael Joyce essay… <\3

3 essays in and he is serving up aces each time

Taking notes for my next tennis class...top spin, yes

"Beauty is not the goal of competitive sports, but high-level sports are a prime venue for the expression of human beauty."

no other male writer has me laugh this often

Sorry, DFW you lost me on this ancient Greek analogy.

DFW would have hated the crowds at this year's USO

DFW using other sport analogies to explain tennis meanwhile the analogies are actually flying over my head.

DFW summarizes what I hate about post game on-court interviews lol

david foster wallace you would have loved tennis twitter

weather (tornados + wind), math (algebra, geometry, calculus)....oh! and tennis

Way behind in my Goodreads goal, so time to start cheating with audiobooks.

Great writing, enjoying this so far.

I find myself (slowly) reading 4 books at once. Do not recommend but here we are

Beautiful, funny, and never ending just like tennis

Ouch el ensayo de tracy austin jajaja

never ask a woman how many books are on her currently reading shelf

I’m only reading this bc of Challengers! Art, Patrick, Tashi: pls pay no mind.

becoming more annoying btw

“democracy and commerce at the us open” is wild because i understand absolutely everything he’s saying but i keep getting distracted because the prices he’s complaining about are 3.50 for a beer or 4 dollars for a hot dog with sauerkraut

“how tracy austin broke my heart” is an instant favorite for me. his disgust at the blandness of her memoir despite the insanity of her career is literally the reason i largely stick to sports histories rather than bios

Challengers summer

"He looks like either a Nazi male model or a lifeguard in hell"

Getting a little bored with the tennis logistics.

Very technical and detailed explanations of the Qualies. He writes so well I’m still somehow entertained. The player style description is also so creative and impressive. Foot notes are growing on me.

Story at the end of Derivative sport was awesome. Wholesome and well written story about his life. I had never heard of Tracy Austin but I see why he loves her. And what a great story to follow up his own youth sports life with someone who actually did it perfect. Cool reflection of what special qualities world class athletes have we don’t and why there translation of that is almost impossible to understand.

Very interesting writing style. Sentences are paragraphs long with stream of consciousness subject jumping. Love that he writes about the Illinois suburbs making it feel familiar for me. Part of me thinks pretentious with how in depth he analyzed and hyped up junior high tennis, but part of me acknowledges that that level of insight is pretty cool and feels niche.

i get why people don’t like him but it’s “good writing”