This is the latest entry in Words, Words, Words the ongoing liveblog of David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest.”
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September 9, 2011, N/A. An aside for Friday and a weekend when we should try to remember to be our best selves. David Foster Wallace’s now famous commencement speech at Kenyon University in 2005. Transcript is here, but I recommend listening to the man himself.
Part 1:
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Part 2:
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I wish you way more than luck.
[…] In the tradition of odd writers giving great commencement speeches, George Saunders offered some good advice to the class of 2013 recently. It’s been […]
[…] Gately’s relationship to his head, at least in his younger days, is far different from the way Wallace usually deals with heads. Gately’s is a tool, a physical object so large and indestructible that it serves as a net positive in his social interactions and overall happiness. Most of the other heads in this book are portrayed as something along the lines of locked cages and/or torture instruments. The “here” from Hal’s “I am in here.” on the first page of the book is reasonably interpreted as inside his head. It’s the first of many times when someone is basically trapped by their head — but not the young Don Gately, who uses his head to get laughs, get beers and get touchdowns. For more on how Wallace felt about heads, check his Kenyon University remarks. […]
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