Where to start with David Foster Wallace?

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Which book of David Foster Wallace's should you read first?

[@lazycalc2533]

A Supposedly Fun Thing was actually way harder for me to read than IJ or any of DFW's other pieces of work...which is actually kinda funny. I'd personally recommend Brief Interviews or Oblivion as a good setup to reading DFW.

[@robertpettitt6547]

Really appreciate the no fluff. It's hard to hear someone talk about a book for 20m and read long excerpts.

[@theanxiousbench]

Thank you. I was wondering where to start. Excellent vid.

[@lunabaileylee203]

I actually started out with the audio book of brief interviews with hideous men. As someone who hated reading their whole life it was the best starting point for me. B.I #40 was the one that stuck with me the most.

[@Misserbi]

Do you think DFW thought by being "productive" that his talents were being used only? If he, for example, decided to create a publishing company of his own he could have managed the trails and tribulations that were still occuring when an "outsider" makes moves or helps him develop. He was reaching out but his efforts were probably manufactured at some point? Academia has the power to encourage a potential to achieve unlike a Charles Bukowski, John Fante, or any number of legitimately "hard working" work horses who made a name by earning their stripes. I think DFW was forced to do everything he did knowing how the other side lives.

[@kouka7221]

Thanks for this video!

[@ma-mo]

The articles in this (at least, the State Fair one and the Cruise one) were what I was reading while waiting for my copy of IJ to arrive at Borders. Which first-edition, first printing I still have, by the way. (Just subscribed.)

[@ramzizzle]

yep i agree, supposedly fun thing and consider the lobster are my favorite books of dfw

[@readreadofficial]

Definitely agree with starting with the essay collections over IJ, although I started with Consider The Lobster (kind of hilarious having this author I'd heard a lot about, and the first thing I read is him going to a porn convention).

[@Itsnotanymore-ku7dz]

Thank you

[@samuelgomezr8012]

Great video

[@CalebSmith3]

Thanks!

[@rebeccakane6058]

Would you still recommend reading IJ after this? I wanted to watch your other videos on it but I didn’t want to hear too much of the plot before starting it

[@CalebSmith3]

Or A.S.F.T.I.N.D.A. for short.

[@thehoopist]

Have you read James Dunn's "The Theology of Paul the Apostle"? Do you plan on reviewing it some day?

[@CalebSmith3]

I haven't read that one my Dunn. I've read his general intro New Testament studies and his book about charismatic gifts in the gospels and I really enjoyed them both so I hope to get around to Theology of Paul and review it soon!

[@thehoopist]

@@CalebSmith3 Do you have his book "New Testament Theology: An Introduction"?

[@CalebSmith3]

Yeah, I'd recommend it

[@thehoopist]

@@CalebSmith3 if that’s so, do you think you could send me a couple of its pages by email? I need to cite a specific portion of it

[@CalebSmith3]

Sorry man I don't think I want to send out pics of copyrighted material, but I do know you can buy it on Kindle then return it with a few days and get a full refund. I used to do that in seminary when I needed to cite something I didn't have access to.

[@themindunset]

So good. Thank you for this break down. I love DFW but I'm terrified to read Infinite Jest because I know it will piss me off. I won't understand it and I'll feel stupid (just being honest). This helped. I felt the same when I read Dubliners by James Joyce. Took me several times just to get through it.

[@davidhandel5894]

Tedison?

[@athraamohammad9176]

Hello please answer me I have a question 🥺

[@CalebSmith3]

Hi Athraa what's your question?

[@athraamohammad9176]

@@CalebSmith3 ok actually my graduation project is about David Foster Soo if u don't mind I want you to advise me some source or books or essys anything u have that i can find something useful in them for my project

[@CalebSmith3]

Well there's the 2 biographies- Every love story is a ghost story by D.T. Max, and Although of course you end up becoming yourself by Lipsky. There's a companion to IJ by Stephen Burn. Some people really like that others don't. Another companion is called "Elegant Complexity" by Greg Carlisle. There's a podcast called "the Great Concavity" which has some helpful episodes. If you are still looking for project topics I think the book "Both Flesh and Not" has not been analyzed much yet so it could be a fun idea. Good luck man!!

[@athraamohammad9176]

@@CalebSmith3 ok thank u so much 🤍🤍🤍🤍

[@arthurfleck5826]

Why did he kill himself?