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Summary: A Truly Great Book I'll Read Again And Again
Review: David Foster Wallace is perhaps the greatest living essayist. He's never just showing off, never just impressing the reader, even when he's showing off and thoroughly impressing. His prose rockets in every direction, changing angle and tone continously. And yet his essays are sharply focused and deeply engaged with their subject matter. Best of all, even though Wallace is forever exposing the ridiculous, his writing is warm, affectionate and modest. His pieces on taking a cruise (the title piece) and on attending the Illinois State Fair are as funny and carefully observed as anything in the english language.
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Summary: His essays are better than his fiction
Review: There is exactly one reason why this book is eminently recommendable: it shows in elegant detail why DFW is, above all, a beautiful person. This book draws you in, and not just because DFW's expository skills put you right alongside the action. The real draw is that DFW is unafraid to experience and evenhandedly relate joy and wonder in details. We are allowed to know of his distaste for Andre Agassi and Balthazar Getty, but we're also treated to his clear affection for Pete Sampras and the older ladies at the cruise ship dinner table. We're also exposed to the natural and endearing compulsion to pour the au jus bucket overboard, if only to attract sharks.Bottom line: you want to hear details when they're from people you would like and trust. DFW is likable and trustworthy, and his essays will convince you.
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Summary: Simply brilliant
Review: I laughed so hard actual dinner products came out my nose. This man has a gift. Spend $11 to encourage it.
Rating:
Summary: Genius on Speed
Review: DFW writes like an insane genius on speed. He picks a topic and drills in and won't let up until every last crevice has been examined, analyzed, and discussed. This book is not for everyone, but I loved it. It is an intellectual treat that has me looking for other DFW books to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Polysyllabic Fun
Review: David Foster Wallace writes a bit like a 12 year old Harvard freshman: he runs positively amok with big hard words and footnotes, but seems not to have the social skills (or self-restraint?) necessary to understand that it's not a good idea to club readers to death with his prodigious intellect. That said, this IS a very funny book and the title essay alone is well worth the price of the paperback.
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Summary: Full of the richness of reading
Review: I most recently have given this book to a friend of my whom is a speed reader, and goes through about 3 books a week. I told her this one had speed bumps. I have given this book to at least 5 people already, including my own copy, which I will have to replace. Reading the reviews of DFW's work, I can't help but be reminded of....living people, that is, the people I enjoy being around that are interested and interesting, usually entertaining and occasionally annoying. DFW's work encompasses so many aspects of the human condition, good and bad, that I recommend this work for anyone who enjoys reading. Why? Because they will either thoroughly enjoy talking about this book, or thoroughly enjoy trashing this book. It is a life-giver to the brain and well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Read
Review: Wallace's rather off beat description of his personal life, from playing amateur tennis to dating modern American women is an enthrallingly different, humourously critical way of looking at the world. While I found the stories entertaining and easy-reading I do have one little hint for the author: Dave, try to cut down on those annoying footnotes a little.
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Summary: words, words, WORDS
Review: David Foster Wallace's essays read like his novels: big, boisterous, smart and exuberant. The title essay is a very long, very detailed, very funny travelogue of a ``pleasure'' cruise. It reads like an extended journal entry by a very bright yet admirably down-to-earth guy. DFW's shotgun approach is not for everyone--he writes about everything he sees and everyone he meets, so at times it sounds like he's rambling. But even when he rambles, it tends to be incisive rambling. I advise patience. It will pay off.
Rating:
Summary: DFW Thrills again
Review: Not often enogh will an author make you laugh AND make you think. It could be arugued that some of the issues Wallace addresses are not worthy of one's precious thought, but I believe the reader can easily see past his silly neroticisms and delve into the great essays here. The best part about this format (essays and arguments) is that if one particular entry does not [fit] your fancy, another one probably will. Even the essay on the ATP tour was shockingly interesting to me, even though I'm not a fan of Tennis. Check it out, you won't regret it.
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Summary: the next Swift?
Review: The title essay, concerning the author's trip on a cruise ship for an assignment for Harper's magazine is quite possibly the funniest thing I have ever read. I have so far given this book to three people who are considering going on a cruise ship, hoping to dissuade them from doing so. (It hasn't worked yet, but I'll keep trying) While the rest of the book is pale by comparison, that might not be fair: rather like saying that looking into a searchlight is dimmer than looking into the sun. Well worth the time and money.
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