In this rare peak into the personal life of the author of numerous
bestselling novels, gain an understanding of David Foster Wallace and
how he became the man that he was.
Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on
life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The
speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in This is Water.
How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult
life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our
thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric
intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death,
it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street
Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and
emailed from friend to friend.
Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting
intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the
challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every
reading.