This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life [Hardcover]

David Foster Wallace (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2009

Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in THIS IS WATER. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend.

Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"David Foster Wallace's unbelievable graduation speech...will inspire you." (Daily Candy )

"We read Wallace because he forces us to think. He makes us consider what's beneath us and around us--like water." (The Christian Science Monitor Alicia J. Rouverol )

"Think of it as The Last Lecture for intellectuals." (Time )

"None of the cloudlessly sane and true things he had to say about life in 2005 are any less sane or true today...[This is Water] reminds us of [Wallace's] strength and goodness and decency--the parts of him the terrible master [the mind] could never defeat, and never will." (New York Times Book Review Tom Bissel )

"Striking...is [Wallace's] evocative insight and humor." (Mother Jones Mark Follman )

About the Author

David Foster Wallace was born in Ithaca, New York, in 1962 and raised in Illinois, where he was a regionally ranked junior tennis player. He received bachelor of arts degrees in philosophy and English from Amherst College and wrote what would become his first novel, The Broom of the System, as his senior English thesis. He received a masters of fine arts from University of Arizona in 1987 and briefly pursued graduate work in philosophy at Harvard University. His second novel, Infinite Jest, was published in 1996. Wallace taught creative writing at Emerson College, Illinois State University, and Pomona College, and published the story collections Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Oblivion and the essay collections A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and Consider the Lobster. He was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Award, and a Whiting Writers' Award, and was appointed to the Usage Panel for The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. He died in 2008. His last novel, The Pale King, was published in 2011.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (April 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316068225
• ISBN-13: 978-0316068222
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 0.6 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Education & Reference > Schools & Teaching > Education Theory > Philosophy & Social Aspects
  • #2 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Consciousness & Thought
  • #3 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Ethics & Morality

More About the Author

David Foster Wallace wrote the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl With Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes the essay collections Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and the full-length work Everything and More.  He died in 2008.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#53 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#79 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#53 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#79 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book April 15, 2009

By olive

Format:Hardcover

Honestly, I couldn't disagree more with the negative posts. I think this brief, beautiful looking book is a wonderful tribute to David Foster Wallace's brilliant mind. This speech was spread throughout the internet, yes. But I, for one, think this is piece of writing is something worth collecting and pondering. And publishing it in a book form gives it the stature it deserves. That may sound old-fashioned, but even in the internet age, that's still the role of a book publisher. And I am happy to have this on my shelf to be able to hold onto it for years to come.

71 of 79 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Slow Down April 10, 2009

By Stephen C. Ellis

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

My initial reaction was the same as the other reviews, huge rip off. But what the editors have done changes for the better the experience of reading what I already thought was an amazing speech. Most of us read the speech on the internet , which because of the medium is always cursory. The book makes us slow down and reflect on the message, and it's not trite or trivial or obvious (except in the sense that any observation that is clearly true seems trite). It's ten bucks very well spent- I bought a bunch of copies for gifts.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I was expecting April 14, 2009

By Eric Allam

Format:Hardcover

Before buying this book I knew exactly what it was: David Foster Wallace's 2005 Kenyon Commencement speech. I actually read the speech online before I had read any of his books (now I've read them all save for Everything and More). and was hoping they would publish, which they did, and I think they did a very good job. I've recommended the speech to some of my friends and now I'll be able to do one better and give it to them as a gift. It seems silly to give this book a 1 star. Rate on content, not on something unknowable like the motivation of the publishers.