A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again
by David Foster Wallace · first published 1997
76% recommend24% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Funny, sharply observed essays, including the title piece on a week-long Caribbean cruise and the TV-and-fiction essay E Unibus Pluram. A good way into his dense style before attempting his novels.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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 h
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Not quite a book but definitely a long essay. "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace. Great read on consumerism, escapism, and the funny things that people seem to do on cruise ships. Also just started keeping a public kanban board of my book backlog and wondering…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗A good David Foster Wallace starting point is "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again". I'd tentatively recommend against starting with Infinite Jest. Infinite Jest is a project of a read.
on “YC's 2015 Reading List” ↗And Vegas! The underlying reason all of those things suck. Relevant: David Foster Wallace's "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." You should read it — it's a hilarious takedown of these sorts of experiences (specifically a 7 day Caribbean cruise).
on “Airbnb expands to experiences” ↗You might relate to David Foster Wallace's assessment: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Supposedly_Fun_Thing_I%27ll_...
on “The Titanic Compared With a Modern Cruiseship (2014)” ↗Cormac McCarthy is a depressing motherfucker. I'm halfway through Blood Meridian and ready to slit my wrists. Good programmer read: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace.
on “Ask HN: Programming books to read while on vacation?” ↗…"sheer" mainly in the sense that the unforgiving cliff face to which a novice climber clings is sheer.) If you enjoyed this essay on Federer, the logical next place to go with DFW is his essay collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
on “Roger Federer as Religious Experience” ↗Things you can easily read on the beach: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain (but read Kitchen Confidential first if you haven't already). Also recommend FiveBooks.com, which…
on “Ask HN: Summer Reading Recommendations?” ↗David Foster Wallace is full of nuggets. Check out "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again"
on “Ask HN: Can you introduce me to contemporary state of essay art?” ↗…Pixie Dream Girls, not overworked, underpaid people who resent our taking 15 minutes to decide what flavor syrup we want in our latte. The result is what David Foster Wallace, in his classic essay "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Supposedly_Fun_Thing_I%27ll_N...), called the "professional smile": This is related to the phenomenon of the Professional Smile, a national pandemic in the service industry...…
on ““Why you should not use Uber (the car ride brokering company)”” ↗The essays are a much better place to start. Pick up A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and read those, especially the last essay, which is what the book is named after. If you like that kind of thing, then the books might be for you. I love DFW's essays. I really cannot get into the books.…
on “A Brand New Interview with David Foster Wallace” ↗…Blood: https://j11g.com/2019/01/21/bad-blood-john-carreyrou/ * The 7 Habits (I reread this after a long time and it still holds up!) https://j11g.com/2019/09/30/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective... * A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again – David Foster Wallace (This is just an amazing book and became one of my all time favorites) https://j11g.com/2019/08/08/a-supposedly-fun-thing-ill-never...
on “Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2019?” ↗Off the top of my head: The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by D.F. Wallace Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov Anything by John McPhee Edit: formatting
on “Ask HN: Non fiction books in English well-written?” ↗And if you're not you could read his essay collections - "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" the title essay of which is now available on the internet and is a terrific introduction to the late great American author (http://www.amazon.com/Supposedly-Fun-Thing-Never-Again/dp/03...) "Consider…
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗Yes! My mind was blown when I read this. Here are some others: "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace, pretty sure this book has changed how a generation writes. At least it convinced a generation they'll never be as good as DFW. "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami, which I…
on “Ask HN: Books that changed your life?” ↗"A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace. This is a book of magazine articles he wrote for various publications on a range of topics. His powers of observation are unlike any other. the articles are hilarious, sad, thought…
on “Ask HN: What are some good books you have read lately?” ↗