A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Praise for David Foster Wallace’s a supposedly fun thing i’ll never do again

“Further cements Wallace’s reputation as probably the most ambitious and prodigious literary talent of his generation, an erupting Vesuvius of prose and ideas and intellect.”

— John Marshall, Seattle Post Intelligencer

“The title essay is worth the price of the book… irrefutable proof of comic genius…. Yes, he’s a great writer, get used to it.”

— Adam Begley, New York Observer

“Wallace puts enough energy, attitude, thought, ‘fun’ (in and out of quotes) and sheer information into any single page to wear me out. But they don’t…. As long as he’s willing to get down and rassle with this stuff, I’m glad to sit here and read all about it.”

— David Gates, Newsweek

“You don’t want to miss out on reading David Foster Wallace. Yes, he’s that good.”

— Kane Webb, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“He has Gore Vidal’s biting wit, Christopher Hitchens’s ability to disrobe intellectual impostors, and Pynchon’s sense of the bizarre…. Not just refreshing, it’s downright exhilarating.”

— David Daley, Hartford Courant

“Wallace’s sheer verbal precocity and versatility stun.”

— Joan Hinkemeyer, Rocky Mountain News

“DFW is smart and funny, a man from whose word processor flows a torrent of brilliant observations and hysterical wit. Do your disposition and your mind a favor: Read this book.”

— Steven E. Alford, Houston Chronicle

“A marvelous book…. Sparkling reportage…. If one wants to see the zeitgeist auto-grappling, in all its necessary confusions, one must read every essay in this book.”

— James Wood, Newsday

“Funny as all get-out…. This guy uses words like a Ninja uses throwing stars…. Wallace proves that cutting edge is a term that needn’t be reserved for fiction only.”

— Jef Leisgang, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“What he’s doing in these essays is rather extraordinary: Treading chin-deep in postmodern waters, he’s constructing an exceptionally funny, viable, open-minded, openhearted voice, and he gives some of the rest of us new ways to think about how to navigate our own perilous waters.”

— Cornel Bonca, OC Weekly (Orange County)

“Engagingly bizarre thinking and gleefully uninhibited writing…. Wallace is smart and funny to about the same extent that Bill Gates is rich. He leaps exuberantly from one original observation to the next.”

— Margaret Sullivan, Buffalo News

“This volume not only reconfirms Mr. Wallace’s stature as one of his generation’s preeminent talents, but it also attests to his virtuosity…. His novelist’s radar for the incongruous detail and the revealing remark — along with his hyperkinetic language and natural storytelling gifts — make him a remarkably able reporter.”

— Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“He’s funny, actually…. Read him.”

— Maureen Harrington, Denver Post