No preview available - 1997 |
Bibliographic information.
Title | A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments |
Author | |
Publisher | Little, Brown, 2009 |
ISBN | 0316090522, 9780316090520 |
Length | 368 pages |
Subjects | › › |
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53 pages • 1 hour read
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A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again is a 1997 essay collection by David Foster Wallace . The seven essays explore 1990s US social issues through subjects such as television, tennis, and (in the most famous essay) a Caribbean cruise. The essays have been referenced many times in popular culture, particularly the title essay, which recounts Wallace’s experiences on a cruise.
This guide references the 1998 Abacus edition of the collection.
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In the first essay, “Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley,” Wallace reflects on playing competitive junior tennis as a youth in Urbana, Illinois, when he discovered a talent for geometrically visualizing tennis court conditions and used it to his advantage. This tactic allowed him to execute a defensive style of play involving little more than returning volleys until his opponent made a mistake, became exhausted, or became frustrated. Wallace’s approach served him well until puberty, at which point he developed much slower physically than other boys his age. Before long, his defensive mathematical approach failed as bigger, stronger opponents simply overpowered him.
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The next essay is titled “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction.” The first phrase in this title is a play on the Latin phrase “E Pluribus Unum” (“out of many, one”), a US motto printed on the country’s currency. Foster’s version inverts the meaning, translating to “from one, many” (or “from some, more”). This essay offers one of the earliest expressions of Wallace’s “New Sincerity” ethos , an approach toward art and literature that the author is often credited with introducing. According to Wallace, the New Sincerity mentality dictates that artists abandon the irony and cynicism that became dominant during the Postmodernism era of the 1960s and that the author sees reflected in modern television: “The next literary ‘rebels’ in this country might well emerge as some weird bunch of anti-rebels, born oglers who dare somehow to back away from ironic watching, who have the childish gall actually to endorse and instantiate single-entendre principles” (81).
In “Getting Away From Already Being Pretty Much Away From It All,” Wallace details his experiences at the 1993 Illinois State Fair. He notes that the fair provided a microcosm of Illinois and Midwestern culture in general. People from rural and urban areas alike came to enjoy the activities, most of which centered on food. Wallace recalls sensing clear distinctions between agriculture professionals, event competitors, and the laypeople who simply wanted to go on carnival rides and indulge in unhealthy food.
In “Greatly Exaggerated,” Wallace reviews Morte d’Author: An Autopsy , a work of prose by US poet and literary critic H. L. Hix. In Wallace’s telling, Hix wished to preserve the idea of the author from Post-structuralist critics who sought to destroy it. Post-structuralism is a school of thought that deemphasizes the role of writers, rejecting the structures on which they rely, under the premise that readers can never truly know a writer’s intended meaning. Thus, post-structuralism shifts the emphasis onto readers, who inevitably process and perceive a text’s meaning in different ways.
“David Lynch Keeps His Head” describes how Wallace travels to the set of director David Lynch’s movie Lost Highway , on assignment for Premiere magazine, to interview Lynch. However, despite his press credentials, Wallace is afforded almost no contact with the director. In lieu of an interview, Wallace reflects on the impenetrably baffling plot of Lost Highway before recalling the mysterious and profound power of Lynch’s earlier films, particularly Blue Velvet . Citing a scene in which the protagonist watches from behind a closet door as one character sexually assaults another, Wallace argues that Lynch gets under audiences’ skin by implicating them in the deviant, sadistic behavior on screen.
In “Tennis Player Michael Joyce’s Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff About Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness,” Wallace recounts attending the Canadian Open to watch US professional tennis player Michael Joyce compete. Reflecting on his commitment to the sport, Wallace wonders whether Joyce chose tennis or tennis chose him.
“A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” describes Wallace’s experience on a seven-day luxury Caribbean cruise. As his fellow passengers engage in what they presumably consider fun and relaxing activities, Wallace is driven to introspection and despair. He likens the extreme pampering that passengers receive from the cruise’s hospitality staff to a mother caring for her infant’s every need. Wallace views this as evidence that, by going on a cruise, passengers express a desire to revert to a state of infancy. As the days pass, Wallace comes to take the luxury and pampering for granted, demanding more of it in hopes of fulfilling an adolescent impulse to want it all, despite knowing that the impulse can never be satisfied.
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Essays and Arguments
By David Foster Wallace
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around February 2, 1998. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
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About the author.
David Foster Wallace was born in Ithaca, New York, in 1962 and raised in Illinois, where he was a regionally ranked junior tennis player. He received bachelor of arts degrees in philosophy and English from Amherst College and wrote what would become his first novel, The Broom of the System , as his senior English thesis. He received a masters of fine arts from University of Arizona in 1987 and briefly pursued graduate work in philosophy at Harvard University. His second novel, Infinite Jest , was published in 1996. Wallace taught creative writing at Emerson College, Illinois State University, and Pomona College, and published the story collections Girl with Curious Hair , Brief Interviews with Hideous Men , Oblivion, the essay collections A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, and Consider the Lobster . He was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Award, and a Whiting Writers’ Award, and was appointed to the Usage Panel for The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. He died in 2008. His last novel, The Pale King , was published in 2011.
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Sorry, there was a problem., a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again: essays and arguments audible audiobook – unabridged.
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.
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COMMENTS
Wallace describes how the cruise sends him into a depressive spiral, detailing the oddities that make up the strange atmosphere of an environment designed for ultimate "fun." 5. "E Unibus Pluram ...
35318437. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments is a 1997 collection of nonfiction writing by David Foster Wallace . In the title essay, originally published in Harper's as "Shipping Out", Wallace describes the excesses of his one-week trip in the Caribbean aboard the cruise ship MV Zenith, which he rechristens the Nadir.
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. By DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Little, Brown and Company. Read the Review. derivative sport in tornado alley. ... I mention tornadoes for reasons directly related to the purpose of this essay. For one thing, they were a real part of Midwest childhood, because as a little kid I was obsessed with dread over ...
4.15. 49,112 ratings3,919 reviews. 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 ...
Beloved for his keen eye, sharp wit, and relentless self-mockery, David Foster Wallace has been celebrated by both critics and fans as the voice of a generation. In this hilarious essay, originally published in the collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, he chronicles seven days in the Caribbean aboard the m.v. Zenith. As he ...
These widely acclaimed essays from the author of Infinite Jest -- on television, tennis, cruise ships, and more -- established David Foster Wallace as one of the preeminent essayists of his generation. 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 ...
These widely acclaimed essays from the author of Infinite Jest -- on television, tennis, cruise ships, and more -- established David Foster Wallace as one of the preeminent essayists of his generation. 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 ...
Beloved for his keen eye, sharp wit, and relentless self-mockery, David Foster Wallace has been celebrated by both critics and fans as the voice of a generation. In this hilarious essay, originally published in the collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, he chronicles seven days in the Caribbean aboard the m.v. Zenith. As he partakes in supposedly fun activities offered on the ...
March 16, 1997. MANY readers young and old (but especially the young and media-saturated) regarded David Foster Wallace's mammoth novel, ''Infinite Jest,'' with suspicion. Jaded by too many ...
David Foster Wallace wrote the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl With Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes the essay collections Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and the full-length work Everything and More.
David Foster Wallace wrote the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl With Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes the essay collections Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and the full-length work Everything and More.
David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) was an American writer and essayist known for his distinctive literary voice and thought-provoking insights into contemporary culture. ... His acclaimed novel Infinite Jest and essays like those in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again showcase his ability to capture the absurdities of modern life and ...
These widely acclaimed essays from the author of Infinite Jest -- on television, tennis, cruise ships, and more -- established David Foster Wallace as one of the preeminent essayists of his generation. 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 ...
Overview. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again is a 1997 essay collection by David Foster Wallace. The seven essays explore 1990s US social issues through subjects such as television, tennis, and (in the most famous essay) a Caribbean cruise. The essays have been referenced many times in popular culture, particularly the title essay ...
David Foster Wallace was born in Ithaca, New York, ... College, and published the story collections Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Oblivion, the essay collections A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and Consider the Lobster. He was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Award, and a Whiting ...
David Foster Wallace wrote the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl With Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes the essay collections Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and the full-length work Everything and More.
These widely acclaimed essays from the author of Infinite Jest-- on television, tennis, cruise ships, and more -- established David Foster Wallace as one of the preeminent essayists of his generation. 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 ...
David Foster Wallace wrote the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl With Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes the essay collections Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and the full-length work Everything and More.
These widely acclaimed essays from the author of Infinite Jest-- on television, tennis, cruise ships, and more -- established David Foster Wallace as one of the preeminent essayists of his generation.. 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 ...
It's more like wanting to die in order to escape the unbearable feeling of becoming aware that I'm small and weak and selfish and going without any doubt at all to die. It's wanting to jump overboard.". ― David Foster Wallace, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments.
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 ...