A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments is a 1997 collection of nonfiction writing by David Foster Wallace.
In the title essay, originally published in Harper's as "Shipping Out", Wallace describes the excesses of his one-week trip in the Caribbean aboard the cruise ship MV Zenith, which he rechristens the Nadir. He is ironically displeased with the professional hospitality industry and the "fun" he should be having and explains how the indulgences of the cruise turn him into a spoiled brat, leading to overwhelming internal despair.
Wallace uses footnotes extensively throughout the piece for various asides. Like much of Wallace's work, the essay is written in postmodern style. Another essay in the same volume takes up the vulgarities and excesses of the Illinois State Fair.
This collection also includes Wallace's influential essay "E Unibus Pluram" on television's impact on contemporary literature and the use of irony in American culture.
Read more about A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays, In Popular Culture
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