David Foster Wallace

This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship it, or else kill it. ”

For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be like shutting off a fire alarm while the fire's still going. ”

We're kind of wishing some parents would come back. And of course we're uneasy about the fact that we wish they'd come back - I mean, what's wrong with us? ”

The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them so we can see the flaws and hypocrisies and duplicates. ”

Rap's conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks is like some hideous parody of sixties black pride. ”

TV's 'real' agenda is to be 'liked,' because if you like what you're seeing, you'll stay tuned. TV is completely unabashed about this; it's its sole raison. ”

This might be one way to start talking about differences between the early postmodern writers of the fifties and sixties and their contemporary descendants. ”

We're not keen on the idea of the story sharing its valence with the reader. But the reader's own life 'outside' the story changes the story. ”

The reader becomes God, for all textual purposes. I see your eyes glazing over, so I'll hush. ”

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire you instead of an exercise in creative art. ”