David Foster Wallace: In His Own Words

"[DFW's] delivery is dead-on and fresh, the words often springing from his mouth as if conceived on the spot.... an audible confirmation that modern American writing continues to gain strength." -Publishers Weekly on Consider the Lobster

Collected here for the first time are the stories and speeches of David Foster Wallace as read by the author himself. Over the course of his career, David Foster Wallace recorded a variety of his work in diverse circumstances - from studio recordings to live performances - that are finally compiled in this unique collection. Some of the pieces collected here are: "Another Pioneer," recorded at The University of Arizona Poetry Center; stories from BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN and CONSIDER THE LOBSTER recorded in the studio; and the unforgettable "This Is Water," his 2005 commencement address given at Kenyon College. Also included are two interviews and a 2005 conversation with Rick Moody at Herbst Theater in San Francisco.



This collection has a special introduction written and read by acclaimed writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan. For fans of David Foster Wallace who have read everything he ever wrote as well as those looking to familiarize themselves with his work, David Foster Wallace: In His Own Words is a special, unique collection unavailable anywhere else.

"Wallace delivers his spry, satiric exercises in a sure-voiced, confident baritone. With the skill of a veteran narrator, he adeptly retains footing as he navigates his complex and wordy prose.... Odd tropes come across with humor, even tenderness, in Wallace's sensitive reading." -PW on BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN

"Wallace reads his fresh, provocative essays with delicious irreverence, earning his place alongside the great social satirists of this, or any, time." AudioFile Magazine on CONSIDER THE LOBSTER