David Foster Wallace’s thirty minute lecture, for the University of California television series, “Artists on the Cutting Edge”. Aired: October 1997
This is a really good introduction to DFW for people who don’t know how funny he can be (i.e. WATCH THIS ZOE). He reads a selection each from two of his funniest and earliest travel essays about the Illinois State Fair and a cruise ship. In between the two readings is a very short excerpt of an interview, one mainly notable for this great quote:
It’s odd. I don’t really think of myself that much as a writer. I think of this as kind of an experiment that’s going OK right now and we’re gonna have to see what happens.
If you like the selections he reads, both essays are available in full in his book A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.
