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10. Think

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Best of Times, Worst of Times
This chapter is in the book Best of Times, Worst of Times
120Used by permission of Little, Brown & Company from Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Wallace. Copyright © 1999 by David Foster Wallace.10Thinkdavid foster wallaceDavid Foster Wallace’s writings made his name synonymous with postmodern prose. He was born in Ithaca, New York, in 1962 and earned his BA at Amherst Col-lege in 1985, double majoring in English and philosophy. He went on to earn his MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona in 1987, the same year he published his novel The Broom of the System. In 1989, Wallace published a collec-tion of short stories, Girl with Curious Hair. He spent the next seven years writing his most heralded work, Infinite Jest (1996), the 1000-plus-page novel that estab-lished him as one of the most influential postmodern writers. Wallace went on to publish two subsequent short story collections: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men(1999), which contains the two-page story “Think,” included in this collection, and Oblivion (2004). Wallace also produced a considerable body of literary journalism and essays on topics ranging from hip hop to politics to animal cruelty. His essay collections include A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (1997), Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity (2003), and Consider the Lobster (2005). Wallace received numerous prizes, including a Whiting Writers’ Award (1987), a Lannan Award for fiction (1996), a MacArthur Fellowship (1997), a Paris Reviewprize for humor (1988), and an O. Henry Award (2002). Wallace committed suicide on September 12, 2008, after suffering from acute depression for more than 20 years.Her brassiere’s snaps are in the front. His own forehead snaps clear. He thinks to kneel. But he knows what she might think if he kneels. What cleared his forehead’s lines was a type of revelation. Her breasts have come free. He imagines his wife and son. Her breasts are unconfined now. The bed’s comforter has a tulle hem, like a ballerina’s little hem. This is the younger sister of his wife’s college roommate. Everyone else has gone to the mall, some to shop, some to see a movie at the mall’s multiplex. The sister with breasts by the bed has a level gaze and a slight smile, slight and smoky,
© 2020 New York University Press, New York, USA

120Used by permission of Little, Brown & Company from Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Wallace. Copyright © 1999 by David Foster Wallace.10Thinkdavid foster wallaceDavid Foster Wallace’s writings made his name synonymous with postmodern prose. He was born in Ithaca, New York, in 1962 and earned his BA at Amherst Col-lege in 1985, double majoring in English and philosophy. He went on to earn his MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona in 1987, the same year he published his novel The Broom of the System. In 1989, Wallace published a collec-tion of short stories, Girl with Curious Hair. He spent the next seven years writing his most heralded work, Infinite Jest (1996), the 1000-plus-page novel that estab-lished him as one of the most influential postmodern writers. Wallace went on to publish two subsequent short story collections: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men(1999), which contains the two-page story “Think,” included in this collection, and Oblivion (2004). Wallace also produced a considerable body of literary journalism and essays on topics ranging from hip hop to politics to animal cruelty. His essay collections include A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (1997), Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity (2003), and Consider the Lobster (2005). Wallace received numerous prizes, including a Whiting Writers’ Award (1987), a Lannan Award for fiction (1996), a MacArthur Fellowship (1997), a Paris Reviewprize for humor (1988), and an O. Henry Award (2002). Wallace committed suicide on September 12, 2008, after suffering from acute depression for more than 20 years.Her brassiere’s snaps are in the front. His own forehead snaps clear. He thinks to kneel. But he knows what she might think if he kneels. What cleared his forehead’s lines was a type of revelation. Her breasts have come free. He imagines his wife and son. Her breasts are unconfined now. The bed’s comforter has a tulle hem, like a ballerina’s little hem. This is the younger sister of his wife’s college roommate. Everyone else has gone to the mall, some to shop, some to see a movie at the mall’s multiplex. The sister with breasts by the bed has a level gaze and a slight smile, slight and smoky,
© 2020 New York University Press, New York, USA

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgments ix
  4. Introduction 1
  5. All in the Family
  6. 1.Your Mother and I 11
  7. 2. The Ballad of Duane Juarez 18
  8. 3. In the American Society 27
  9. 4. Gogol 41
  10. 5. Refresh, Refresh 68
  11. 6. Smorgasbord 81
  12. Shifting Identities
  13. 7. How to Date a Brown Girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie) 97
  14. 8. In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried 102
  15. 9. Metamorphosis 111
  16. 10. Think 120
  17. Locations and Dislocations
  18. 11. Expensive Trips Nowhere 125
  19. 12. Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera 146
  20. 13. Shiloh 168
  21. 14. COMMCOMM 182
  22. 15. Mines 203
  23. Across Divides
  24. 16. Skinless 217
  25. 17. View from a Headlock 226
  26. 18. Brownies 248
  27. 19. Pie of the Month 268
  28. Workdays and Nightshifts
  29. 20. A Day 287
  30. 21. Scales 296
  31. 22. Something That Needs Nothing 309
  32. 23. Equal Opportunity 327
  33. 24. The Passenger 341
  34. About the Editors 357
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814763001.003.0014

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgments ix
  4. Introduction 1
  5. All in the Family
  6. 1.Your Mother and I 11
  7. 2. The Ballad of Duane Juarez 18
  8. 3. In the American Society 27
  9. 4. Gogol 41
  10. 5. Refresh, Refresh 68
  11. 6. Smorgasbord 81
  12. Shifting Identities
  13. 7. How to Date a Brown Girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie) 97
  14. 8. In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried 102
  15. 9. Metamorphosis 111
  16. 10. Think 120
  17. Locations and Dislocations
  18. 11. Expensive Trips Nowhere 125
  19. 12. Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera 146
  20. 13. Shiloh 168
  21. 14. COMMCOMM 182
  22. 15. Mines 203
  23. Across Divides
  24. 16. Skinless 217
  25. 17. View from a Headlock 226
  26. 18. Brownies 248
  27. 19. Pie of the Month 268
  28. Workdays and Nightshifts
  29. 20. A Day 287
  30. 21. Scales 296
  31. 22. Something That Needs Nothing 309
  32. 23. Equal Opportunity 327
  33. 24. The Passenger 341
  34. About the Editors 357
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