{"product_id":"this-is-water-some-thoughts-delivered-on-a-significant-occasion-about-living-a-compassionate-life-by-david-foster-wallace","title":"This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this rare peak into the personal life of the author of numerous bestselling novels, gain an understanding of David Foster Wallace and how he became the man that he was.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOnly 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 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis is Water\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. 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 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWriting 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.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"David Foster Wallace's unbelievable graduation speech...will inspire you.\"-- \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDaily Candy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"We read Wallace because he forces us to think. He makes us consider what's beneath us and around us--like water.\"-- \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlicia J. Rouverol\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Think of it as \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last Lecture\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003efor intellectuals.\"-- \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTime\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"None of the cloudlessly sane and true things he had to say about life in 2005 are any less sane or true today...[ \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis is Water]\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 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.\"-- \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eTom Bissel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Striking...is [Wallace's] evocative insight and humor.\"-- \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eMark Follman\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMother Jones\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Foster Wallace\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas 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,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Broom of the System\u003c\/i\u003e, 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,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eInfinite Jest\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in 1996.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWallace taught creative writing at Emerson College, Illinois State University, and Pomona College, and published the story collections \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eGirl with Curious Hair\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrief Interviews with Hideous Men\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eOblivion\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, the essay collections \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eConsider the Lobster\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. 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, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Pale King\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, was published in 2011.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLittle Brown and Company\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePub Date: \u003cspan\u003eApril 01, 2009\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eISBN: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e0.7\" H x 6.6\" L x 4.8\" W\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e144 pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ehardcover\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45510594789562,"sku":"9780316068222","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0444\/2213\/5968\/files\/ibg.common.titledetail_ae49ceef-6509-46df-b5c0-39c3b5688973.gif?v=1768341197","url":"https:\/\/naturenurture.shop\/products\/this-is-water-some-thoughts-delivered-on-a-significant-occasion-about-living-a-compassionate-life-by-david-foster-wallace","provider":"nature+nurture","version":"1.0","type":"link"}