DFW taught in the English Dept. for ten years at Illinois State U. (Normal, IL) and was beloved by the students. I love the Kenyon College address. Also recommended is Jonathan Frantzen’s essay on DFW. Thank you for bringing this literary treasure to wider notice.
I would read This is Water to my son before bed when he was in elementary school- I’d like to think that every time he stands in a check out line at a grocery store he will remember to choose how to see things, to consider how he gets to decide what to pay attention to, and experience it just as DFW described.
I started with Infinite Jest but pretty much read his whole oeuvre. In our house, anytime someone mentions a cruise everyone yells out "a supposedly fun thing I'll never do again". His writing is serious but he's a very funny writer as well. It's not like reading Dante...
Great list! Totally agree that A Supposedly Fun Thing is a great place to start. Would also recommend the collection Oblivion, which has the long story “Good Old Neon,” and the super-short and devastating “Incarnations of Burned Children.”
(I thought I was a big DFW fan, but I’d never heard of STDWPA…)
Gonna throw in a different angle - read “Wittgenstein’s Mistress” (by Markson, not by DFW) and Wallace’s essay on the book, “The Empty Plenum” if you want to understand how well-read and thoughtful he was.
I'd recommend Molly Mary O'Brien and Chris Wade's "Infinite Cast" podcast as a good way of breaking the back of Infinite Jest if it's too overwhelming; a wife reads Infinite Jest to her husband and they discuss it. But also, Infinite Jest is at its most head-scrambling at the start when so many characters and plots are introduced. Once you have a grip on the main areas in it, it's a lot of fun to read.
I'd vote for either 'A Supposedly Fun Thing...' or 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men' for his shorter pieces and those two volumes kinda cover the range of his brilliance in my opinion. Also his article on the John McCain campaign (maybe in the Atlantic?) was absolute genius.
And 'Infinite Jest' is just genius beyond genius. It's probably not a great "entry point" but, in my opinion, it's his best, and among the most brilliant novels ever written, so it's hard to NOT recommend that as an essential start!
I’ve found DFW’s nonfiction to be far more accessible than his fiction, which I found overly pretentious and precious. Maybe it’s just his short stories.
Years ago, I was seeing a clinical neuropsychologist who, knowing my love of wordplay, implored me to read "Ulysses." I bought a copy as I had told him I would.
At my next appointment he asked me how far I had gotten in it.
He wrote two articles for The Atlantic. One, a cover story interview and the other an essay. It's not the same as his literary work but it's definitely a taste of what made him a brilliant writer, which was being an exceptional observer.
The first thing of Wallace's I read was a rather fine biography of Georg Cantor, "Everything and More", which led me to the book of essays ("A Supposedly Fun Thing … " ) which I also enjoyed. His discursive style reminds me of Hunter Thompson, but far less abrasive.
However, despite several attempts, I haven't managed to read "Infinite Jest" yet.
Another great entry point is the title essay from the collection Consider The Lobster. Very accessible and funny and unnerving. Read it here:
http://www.gourmet.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobsterd996.html?printable=true
Absolutely. First thing I thought when I saw the title of this article.
Yep, the most memorable for me — 5/5, elite stuff.
DFW taught in the English Dept. for ten years at Illinois State U. (Normal, IL) and was beloved by the students. I love the Kenyon College address. Also recommended is Jonathan Frantzen’s essay on DFW. Thank you for bringing this literary treasure to wider notice.
He also taught at Pomona, where I took his class. An incredible teacher with not an ounce of ego in sight.
Recommendations for single stories/essays from someone who’s read most of what he’s written twice:
“Good Old Neon”—short story about a man recounting his long fraudulent life leading up to his suicide
“E Unibus Pluram”—essay on the dead-end of irony in television
“Big Red Son”—Wallace’s visit to the yearly porn awards, reflections on the depravity of the industry
& his writing about tennis too: brilliant!
Several people mentioned DFW’s writing about tennis, which is collected in “String Theory”. May I add that, as a starter on DFW and tennis, his article “Roger Federer as Religious Experience” was originally in the New York Times in 2006. Here’s a gift link to it: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20federer.html?unlocked_article_code=1.p08.6DM_.nGre-C0n69bp&smid=url-share
I would read This is Water to my son before bed when he was in elementary school- I’d like to think that every time he stands in a check out line at a grocery store he will remember to choose how to see things, to consider how he gets to decide what to pay attention to, and experience it just as DFW described.
I started with Infinite Jest but pretty much read his whole oeuvre. In our house, anytime someone mentions a cruise everyone yells out "a supposedly fun thing I'll never do again". His writing is serious but he's a very funny writer as well. It's not like reading Dante...
Yes, that essay about the cruise ship is very funny.
Great list! Totally agree that A Supposedly Fun Thing is a great place to start. Would also recommend the collection Oblivion, which has the long story “Good Old Neon,” and the super-short and devastating “Incarnations of Burned Children.”
(I thought I was a big DFW fan, but I’d never heard of STDWPA…)
Gonna throw in a different angle - read “Wittgenstein’s Mistress” (by Markson, not by DFW) and Wallace’s essay on the book, “The Empty Plenum” if you want to understand how well-read and thoughtful he was.
It's not a book or whatever, but this interview with Charlie Rose is incredible. I watch it very often and get a lot out of it every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GopJ1x7vK2Q
I'd recommend Molly Mary O'Brien and Chris Wade's "Infinite Cast" podcast as a good way of breaking the back of Infinite Jest if it's too overwhelming; a wife reads Infinite Jest to her husband and they discuss it. But also, Infinite Jest is at its most head-scrambling at the start when so many characters and plots are introduced. Once you have a grip on the main areas in it, it's a lot of fun to read.
I'd vote for either 'A Supposedly Fun Thing...' or 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men' for his shorter pieces and those two volumes kinda cover the range of his brilliance in my opinion. Also his article on the John McCain campaign (maybe in the Atlantic?) was absolute genius.
And 'Infinite Jest' is just genius beyond genius. It's probably not a great "entry point" but, in my opinion, it's his best, and among the most brilliant novels ever written, so it's hard to NOT recommend that as an essential start!
I’ve found DFW’s nonfiction to be far more accessible than his fiction, which I found overly pretentious and precious. Maybe it’s just his short stories.
I don't know what I found Infinite Jest to be, but "readable" was not in the list.
James Joyce's wife once said to him, "Why don't you write books people want to read?"
Yeah…I've got a book of literary putdowns that has that one in it. Applies to “Ulysses” for me too! Ha.
Years ago, I was seeing a clinical neuropsychologist who, knowing my love of wordplay, implored me to read "Ulysses." I bought a copy as I had told him I would.
At my next appointment he asked me how far I had gotten in it.
"Page 1/2."
Ha, fantastic! I think I’ve read the first 5 pages of that one 7 or 8 times. I finally just had to give up. Not for me, I guess.
He wrote two articles for The Atlantic. One, a cover story interview and the other an essay. It's not the same as his literary work but it's definitely a taste of what made him a brilliant writer, which was being an exceptional observer.
https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-foster-wallace/
The first thing of Wallace's I read was a rather fine biography of Georg Cantor, "Everything and More", which led me to the book of essays ("A Supposedly Fun Thing … " ) which I also enjoyed. His discursive style reminds me of Hunter Thompson, but far less abrasive.
However, despite several attempts, I haven't managed to read "Infinite Jest" yet.
Agree a lot about the lack of more recognition to “The Marriage Plot”.