It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire you instead of an exercise in creative art.

Quote by David Foster Wallace

Topics: David Foster Wallace Quotes

The reader becomes God, for all textual purposes. I see your eyes glazing over, so...

The reader becomes God, for all textual purposes. I see your eyes glazing over, so...

For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be...

For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be...

I just think that fiction that isn't exploring what it means to be human today...

I just think that fiction that isn't exploring what it means to be human today...

This diagnosis can be done in about two lines. It doesn't engage anybody.

This diagnosis can be done in about two lines. It doesn't engage anybody.

This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship...

This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship...

TV's eal agenda is to be liked, because if you like what you're seeing, you'll...

TV's eal agenda is to be liked, because if you like what you're seeing, you'll...

We're kind of wishing some parents would come back. And of course we're uneasy about...

We're kind of wishing some parents would come back. And of course we're uneasy about...

I often think I can see it in myself and in other young writers, this...

I often think I can see it in myself and in other young writers, this...

We're not keen on the idea of the story sharing its valence with the reader....

We're not keen on the idea of the story sharing its valence with the reader....

This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside.

This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside.

It seems important to find ways of reminding ourselves that most familiarity is meditated and...

It seems important to find ways of reminding ourselves that most familiarity is meditated and...

It looks like you can write a minimalist piece without much bleeding. And you can....

It looks like you can write a minimalist piece without much bleeding. And you can....

The other half is to dramatize the fact that we still are human beings, now....

The other half is to dramatize the fact that we still are human beings, now....

The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them...

The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them...

The interesting thing is why we're so desperate for this anesthetic against loneliness.

The interesting thing is why we're so desperate for this anesthetic against loneliness.

Nuclear weapons and TV have simply intensified the consequences of our tendencies, upped the stakes.

Nuclear weapons and TV have simply intensified the consequences of our tendencies, upped the stakes.

I think TV promulgates the idea that good art is just art which makes people...

I think TV promulgates the idea that good art is just art which makes people...

Pleasure becomes a value, a teleological end in itself. It's probably more Western than U.S....

Pleasure becomes a value, a teleological end in itself. It's probably more Western than U.S....

Rap's conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks is like some hideous...

Rap's conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks is like some hideous...

One of the things that makes Wittgenstein a real artist to me is that he...

One of the things that makes Wittgenstein a real artist to me is that he...