Selected Essays

Book summary for "Selected Essays" by D. F. Wallace: D. F. Wallace, author of one of the greatest postmodern novels, "Infinite Jest," won no less admiration from critics and readers for his outstanding reporting and essays. At their best, these works reveal the full range of Wallace's talents: his ability to capture the physical and emotional essence of things with just a few strokes; his wit, insight, and immense intellectual curiosity; his eccentric yet light and inspired style; his ability to juxtapose the infinite and the infinitesimal and to leap from the ordinary to the metaphysical with breathtaking speed. From television voyeurism to tennis, from the Maine lobster festival to David Lynch films, from Borges and Kafka to the dubious pleasure of traveling aboard a luxury cruise liner in the Caribbean, from an American perspective on Dostoevsky to the awards ceremony honoring achievements in the porn industry—Wallace infuses the essay genre with the same curiosity, irony, and linguistic ease that captivated readers of his legendary novel. Read more…