4 ms·

This is a trollish comment but do the DFW articles hold up?: radio article - talk radio is for stupid people cruise ship article - cruise ships are for fat pe

This is a trollish comment but do the DFW articles hold up?: radio article - talk radio is for stupid people cruise ship article - cruise ships are for fat people Maine state fair article - tourism is for boring people How much of his appeal was due to flattering the vanity of his readers?

adolph 7y ago
I haven’t read much of DFW outside of This Is Water [0]. In it he seems very aware of the outlook of contempt [1] folk of his intellectual milieu have for certain other segments of society and presents the case for reframing that viewpoint. 0. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI 1. http://www.econtalk.org/arthur-brooks-on-love-your-enemies/ http://www.econtalk.org/arthur-brooks-on-love-your-enemies/
cjf4 7y ago
These sound like the assessments of someone who read a critique of the articles, but not the articles themselves.
- maroonblazer 7y ago
  Was going to reply with the very same sentiment. Also: >David Foster Wallace, “Shipping Out: On the (Nearly Lethal) Comforts of a Luxury Cruise.” Harper’s Magazine, January 1996 I much prefer the title he gave it when published in book form: "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again."
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - mekane8 7y ago
    The collection of his articles that were published in that book is wonderful. I loved the cruise ship one, and I really enjoyed his articles about the IL state fair and about tennis because I grew up in the same area that he was talking about.
AJRF 7y ago
His language is beautiful and he has a way of writing that cuts to the base truth of a situtation, which side by side (i.e flowerly language AND truthful writing) seem like a contradiction, but I think it just highlights how talented he was. His writing always had the best words in the right order. And that means to me it will always be worth reading.
- soniman 7y ago
  I wouldn't say the language is flowery. It's not. It just piles a lot of details on the reader. "Taxonomically speaking, a lobster is a marine crustacean of the family Homaridae, characterized by five pairs of jointed legs, the first pair terminating in large pincerish claws used for subduing prey. Like many other species of benthic carnivore, lobsters are both hunters and scavengers. They have stalked eyes, gills on their legs, and antennae. There are dozens of different kinds worldwide, of which the relevant species here is the Maine lobster, Homarus americanus. The name “lobster” comes from the Old English loppestre, which is thought to be a corrupt form of the Latin word for locust combined with the Old English loppe, which meant spider." This goes on for pages.

adolph 7y ago

I haven’t read much of DFW outside of This Is Water [0]. In it he seems very aware of the outlook of contempt [1] folk of his intellectual milieu have for certain other segments of society and presents the case for reframing that viewpoint. 0. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI 1. http://www.econtalk.org/arthur-brooks-on-love-your-enemies/ http://www.econtalk.org/arthur-brooks-on-love-your-enemies/

cjf4 7y ago

These sound like the assessments of someone who read a critique of the articles, but not the articles themselves.

maroonblazer 7y ago
Was going to reply with the very same sentiment. Also: >David Foster Wallace, “Shipping Out: On the (Nearly Lethal) Comforts of a Luxury Cruise.” Harper’s Magazine, January 1996 I much prefer the title he gave it when published in book form: "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again."
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- mekane8 7y ago
  The collection of his articles that were published in that book is wonderful. I loved the cruise ship one, and I really enjoyed his articles about the IL state fair and about tennis because I grew up in the same area that he was talking about.

AJRF 7y ago

His language is beautiful and he has a way of writing that cuts to the base truth of a situtation, which side by side (i.e flowerly language AND truthful writing) seem like a contradiction, but I think it just highlights how talented he was. His writing always had the best words in the right order. And that means to me it will always be worth reading.

soniman 7y ago
I wouldn't say the language is flowery. It's not. It just piles a lot of details on the reader. "Taxonomically speaking, a lobster is a marine crustacean of the family Homaridae, characterized by five pairs of jointed legs, the first pair terminating in large pincerish claws used for subduing prey. Like many other species of benthic carnivore, lobsters are both hunters and scavengers. They have stalked eyes, gills on their legs, and antennae. There are dozens of different kinds worldwide, of which the relevant species here is the Maine lobster, Homarus americanus. The name “lobster” comes from the Old English loppestre, which is thought to be a corrupt form of the Latin word for locust combined with the Old English loppe, which meant spider." This goes on for pages.