A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments

More accessible and immediately satisfying than Wallace's fiction, this book is a good entre for those who want to get their toes wet without making the 1100 page commitment demanded by Infinite Jest.

DFW's essay's on tennis star Michael Joyce and the title essay about a week-long Carribean cruise achieve the rare combination of hilarity and seriousness.

This author has a fascinating outlook on the world. Some of the essays are better than others, but the best (e.g., Supposedly Fun Thing....) are just excellent. It took awhile to get the hang of his footnotes -- and his footnotes to the footnotes -- but it really works!
Gets 5 stars from me, and I don't give out 5 very often.

One of the most insightful collections of essays I've read in years, Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing explores contemporary life with fresh and vibrant language. Too many try to compare these non-fiction essays with his magnum opus, Infinite Jest; there's a directness, a desire to not beat around the bush, present in A Supposedly Fun Thing. I.J. is a massive metaphor for the issues and concerns discussed in A Supposedly Fun Thing and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (another fine Wallace book). I'd love to read Wallace's take on the post-Sept. 11th America and the Bush Administration. If you're reading this, Dave, consider this a suggestion for more exceptional essays. Thanks for the great book.

...but i really loved this essay collection.

Wallace is (IMO) a totally hilarious writer and the essays collected in this book are astute observations and analyses of a number of topics and events written wittily with a voice that is brutally critical yet somehow still compassionate. His accounts of things as varied as a day at a small county fair to his experiences going on a "luxury cruise" are filled with information, abstract analysis, biting wit, and self-examination. I laughed out loud frequently, yet it made me think about society and selfhood a lot as well. Highly recommended for fans of this sort of writing.

Occasionally Wallace manages to craft a story or essay that holds interest throughout. More often, however, he uses language for no other purpose than to show his adeptness at using language. His paragraphs of description upon description demonstrate that he has a way with adjectives, but they fail to actually improve the reader's understanding of the story-- if there is a story buried beneath the description. It is not vivid description that makes a good author, but relevant description. "See what I can do!" his writing seems to scream. It seems to work for him, as reviewers regularly comment on his brilliance.