This Is Water

What is the actual, real-life value of education? In this pointedly observant examination of daily life, David Foster Wallace seeks an answer to this deceptively simple question. In doing so, he notes that, 'the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.' In other words, to really understand the world, we have to get out of our own thoughts and learn to see what's right in front of us. With this, he touches on the most basic, most important decision we all make every day - how to think about our world.

Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of casual humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.

“"We read Wallace because he forces us to think. He makes us consider what's beneath us and around us--like water."”

"David Foster Wallace's unbelievable graduation speech...will inspire you."--Daily Candy
"None of the cloudlessly sane and true things he had to say about life in 2005 are any less sane or true today...[This is Water] 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."--Tom Bissel, New York Times Book Review
"Striking...is [Wallace's] evocative insight and humor."--Mark Follman, Mother Jones
"Think of it as The Last Lecture for intellectuals."--Time
--Alicia J. Rouverol, The Christian Science Monitor

David Foster Wallace is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Lannan Award for Fiction, the Paris Review's Aga Kahn Prize and John Train Prize for Humour, and the O. Henry Award. He died in 2008.

What is the actual, real-life value of education? In this pointedly observant examination of daily life, David Foster Wallace seeks an answer to this deceptively simple question. In doing so, he notes that, 'the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.' In other words, to really understand the world, we have to get out of our own thoughts and learn to see what's right in front of us. With this, he touches on the most basic, most important decision we all make every day - how to think about our world.Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of casual humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.

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