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

Quote by David Foster Wallace

Topics: David Foster Wallace Quotes

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.

The problem is that once the rules of art are debunked, and once the unpleasant...

The problem is that once the rules of art are debunked, and once the unpleasant...

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...

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire...

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire...

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....

To be willing to sort of die in order to move the reader, somehow. Even...

To be willing to sort of die in order to move the reader, somehow. Even...

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...

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...

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.

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.

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...

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....

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 might be one way to start talking about differences between the early postmodern writers...

This might be one way to start talking about differences between the early postmodern writers...

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...

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...

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...

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.