Group B Blog Post

In our readings of David Foster Wallace we see that he never had a passion or a love for the game that he was so dominant in. It's saddening to see that DFW only played the game of tennis just because he was good and knew the courts so well that he was playing on. In his mind he always knew that at least some one was better or stronger than he was and he had so many doubts that we would never become a professional in tennis.

So this may leave a question for some readers...

How was DFW able to write so many articles about the game he never truly fell in love with?

DFW is famously known for his writings about tennis. How is he able to write so well about a game he does not get excited for? This clearly states that DFW is an outstanding writer. Writing about a topic that you do not enjoy is very difficult and DFW is able to do this successfully. It's surprising and rare to find a writer who is able to do this so well.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 14, 2018 at 5:34 PM

    Although DFW may not love playing the sport, I think he still has a fascination of the sport that dates back to his childhood. Authors tend to write about memories from their younger life and, since tennis was such an important part of his childhood, he continues to use his knowledge of the sport in his current literary work. The sport clearly made a major impact on his life and while does not get excited to play tennis anymore, he is still passionate about the game.

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  2. Alison LillaOctober 15, 2018 at 7:24 PM

    I agree with Max. He mentions spilling his popcorn and jumping in front of the TV when he sees Feder make an impossible shot. It seems like he likes tennis as a past time, just not to occupy his time as a career since he feels sorry for professional athletes who are consumed with training. I am a little surprised he still followed tennis even thought it seemed like he was forced to play it. He seems to have a fascination with things he can put numbers and geometry to, so maybe this was one of those things he could obsess about

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