A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Essays and Arguments

by David Foster Wallace

Paperback, 368 pages

English language

Published Feb. 2, 1998 by Back Bay Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-92528-0
OCLC Number:: 41459863

(25 reviews)

A collection of stories from David Foster Wallace is occasion to celebrate. These stories -- which have been prominently serialized in Harper's, Esquire, the Paris Review, and elsewhere -- explore intensely immediate states of mind, with the attention to voice and the extraordinary creative daring that have won Wallace his reputation as one of the most talented fiction writer of his generation.Among the stories are "The Depressed Person", a dazzling portrayal of a woman's mental state; "Adult World", which reveals a woman's agonized consideration of her confusing sexual relationship with her husband; and "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men", a dark, hilarious series of portraits of men whose fear of women renders them grotesque.

3 editions

decadent_and_depraved reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Wallace's writing is ineffably and endlessly readable. Even when I am not too interested in the subject Wallace chose to write about, I can enjoy the way it is written about. Tennis stuff was definitely not for me. Yes, those essays are in some sense about him, his experiences, but I was not quite entertained by whatever was going on there. In this work, Wallace is at his best when he is discussing media and the postmodern condition it has found itself in. Irony is truly in a cunningly approving, compulsorily rejective state, right now. I will be going back to those essays probably for years to come for the sheer fun of it. The rest of it was fine. As I said, nothing mind-blowing, but eminently enjoyable.

georgewhatup reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I'm glad I read this after Consider the Lobster, that was a much lighter read that helped ease me into this collection of slightly denser essays.

Makes me want to watch more David Lynch and, strangely, take a luxury cruise.

Siddhartha Golu reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I've always had a weird fascination with David Foster Wallace since the moment I first listened to "This is Water". The way he so astutely and brilliantly confronts the everyday banalities and does it in such a hilarious fashion that you sometimes don't know whether he's acting funny or simply telling the truth. This collection of essays would be a good introduction to his works, albeit you can skip some parts.

SharonC reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Great ideas about irony and jazz and why "breaking all the rules" doesn't always lead you to where you want to go.

Hilarious essay on cruise ships as well.

loppear reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on Goodreads

4 stars

Finally reading some DFW, recently watched End of the Tour. Great observational cultural essays, a little David Sedaris if he were too clever for Harpers (many of these originally published there, a good reminder of why I love their style and variety.)

Daniel Norton reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Strangely, I never tire of reading David Foster Wallace even though his frantic prose can sometimes stress me out. I always feel like he thinks the way I do with multiple connecting and seemingly disjointed tangents to a main theme. He just articulates it far better than I could.

José María (Chema) Mateos reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

El último capítulo (el que da título al libro) ya le hace por sí solo merecedor de las 5 estrellas.

rototrav reviewed A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Review of "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Good overall. The essay about television feels a bit dated since it was written shortly before so-called "Reality Television" began creeping its way into American television. What does DFW think of reality tv, I wonder? And what about the recent spate of really intelligent television programs?
The other essays are really good, especially "Greatly Exaggerated" which both explains and mocks recent Critical Theory.