A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Essays and Arguments

Paperback, 368 pages

English language

Published Feb. 2, 1998 by Back Bay Books.

ISBN:
978-0-316-92528-0
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OCLC Number:
41459863

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5 stars (1 review)

In this exuberantly praised book — a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary theory to the supposed fun of traveling aboard a Caribbean luxury cruiseliner — David Foster Wallace brings to nonfiction the same curiosity, hilarity, and exhilarating verbal facility that has delighted readers of his fiction, including the bestselling Infinite Jest.

4 editions

What It Means to Live on the Cusp of the 21st Century

5 stars

I should be upfront before I begin: this is my fourth work by DFW. I've been working through his entire oeuvre and have been amazed by it. Previous works I've read by him are Consider the Lobster, This is Water (which, I guess, is really a lecture), and Infinite Jest.

The essays included here are of differing quality--the least powerful of which was his review of Morte d'Author--but the best here ("A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," Getting Away from Already Being Pretty Much Away from It All," and "David Lynch Keeps His Head") are really phenomenal.

The man's observational capabilities are apt and hilarious. While other essayists are informative and offer new insights on X or Y issue, DFW has the uncanny ability to write about specific experiences that mirror what it is actually like to live these experiences. I've been to state fairs …

Subjects

  • Essays
  • General
  • Fiction / General
  • Literature - Classics / Criticism
  • Fiction