Special Coverage American Idol Fall TV Central Twilight The Must List Pop Style On The Set
  • --

Credits

Writer: David Foster Wallace; Genre: Essays
--

Despite the success of last year's Infinite Jest, some suspected that the bricklike 1,079-page novel was propping open more doors than minds. Happily, the publication of Wallace's new collection should change all that. The author forgoes his usual irony in favor of seven surprisingly earnest appreciations of everything from being a kid in the geometrically precise Midwest to postmodern critical theory. A Supposedly Fun Thing is a heady, often hilarious tour of American diversions — state fairs and cinema, cruise ships and tennis, six hours of TV a day. Wallace fans will recognize favorite preoccupations, quirks, and, of course, footnotes (137 in the title essay alone); new readers will discover a remarkably talented, fluid, and arresting young voice. A


Sign up for EW.com's The 25 newsletter!

Stay in the know and get EW.com's top 5 stories, 5 days a week (sent weekday afternoons).
Posted Mar 07, 1997
  • Print
  • Del.icio.us
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • More
 

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have javascript enabled to submit a comment.
--
Change/Edit your grade
characters remaining