10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 19, 1997 Wallace to read 'Jest' at Borders By Jessica Eaton For the Daily With the Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar, Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken and Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment, David Foster Wallace's novel "Infinite Jest" humorously delves into the lives and addictions of one of the most endearingly screwed-up families in recent fiction. Wallace will be reading from "Infinite Jest" and "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," his newest collection of essays, at Borders on Thursday. {Infinite Jest" is an imposing novel, known as-much for its length of 1,079 pages as for its content. It explores the value of entertainment and how it dominates our everyday lives. "I had tried to write pieces of fiction for sev- eral years before, and they hadn't really worked," said Wallace, in an interview with The Michigan Daily. "I decided that I wanted to try writing something really sad; I thought of myself as kind of a weird comedy writer up until then. "The only thing I had in mind was that I wanted to do something partly about sports and partly about drugs and that was really kind of sad. I knew that it was going to be long, because 'Infinite Jest' has five or six main characters, but I didn't know that it would be as e 1 long as it was. It got to be kind of a problem. The editor and I cut 400-500 pages before it was published," Wallace said. Wallace's fiction work, he claims, is not auto- biographical. However, he does admit that there is occasionally a personal influence. "Infinite Jest" is partly set in a tennis academy, and he acknowl- edged that he played a lot of E V I E W tennis in his youth: "In fact, my high school friend avid Foster Marty Maehr is a tennis pro Wallace in Ann Arbor." He research- Thursday at 7:30 p.m. es his subject thoroughly, Borders, Free and is "good at seeming to know a lot." "Most of the characters are from putting five or six different people in a blender and then throwing myself in, too," Wallace said. "A weird thing happens with stuff that I think is good enough to publish. The characters begin talking to you. It's really weird when it hap- pens, and not entirely pleasant. You feel kind of crazy. But with the stuff that I like enough to publish, that usually happens." "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," by contrast, is nonfiction, and it is much more autobiographical than Wallace's other works. The title essay is a report of his experiences with forced fun on a commercial cruiseliner, as he describes with biting humor the joys and agonies of bingo, cruise food and the 1.2:2 crew-to-passenger ratio. These humorous and thought-provoking pieces reflect Wallace's long experience in writing. A soft-spoken English professor, his speech peppered with "Well, golly" and "Oh, Godfrey," Wallace began writing in college, writing papers for other students to earn extra money. He also wrote for a friend's humor magazine, and he joined the same friend's reading group. When this friend wrote a piece of fiction for his senior thesis, Wallace, with the belief that "anything he could do, I could do," did also. He sent a copy of that thesis to an agent while he was in grad school, and it quickly became "The Broom of the System," his first novel. Wallace had plenty of advice for young writers trying to get published. "The best advice I could give is not to worry about getting published for a while and to concentrate on the beauty and the fun of what you're doing. Once the publication starts, it's very easy to forget why you wanted to do this in the first place," Wallace said. Next year, Wallace plans to leave teaching to write full-time. "Teaching is a lot of fun, but it takes up a lot of the same energy writing does. So I'm probably going to try and get a lot more writing done next year. " Wallace said. Until then, readers will have to be content with "Infinite Jest," "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," and Wallace's reading at Borders this evening. I David Foster Wallace will read from "Infinite Jest" at Borders on Thursday. F; ~' UAC Committee Chairs Wanted! for the 1997-1998 school year Universities Activities Center is the largest student-run organization on campus. UAC's purpose is to enrich the student community. UAC has a spot for everyone. If you enjoy the arts, the entertainment field, or are interested in technical work, business, or advertising, UAC would love to have you join the team! UAC is made up of a fantastic team of students. We're so much more that just programming; we're about fun, too. Not only do we work together, we play together! There is never a dull moment at UAC! Committees Include: PORN Read ALL About It Discover the ups, downs, ins and outs of PORNOGRAPHY in tomorrow's We eked Amazin' Blue Comedy Company Impact Dance Theatre M-Flicks The Rude Mechanicals (formerly Soph Show) MUSKET Mini-Courses Multicultural Programming Board Michigan Academic Competition Laughtrack Soundstage Special Events Viewpoint Lectures Eclipse Jazz Homecoming Michigras Ticket Central Applications are available at the UAC office, 2105 Michigan Union Due Noon, Monday March 24 4 I 1 OVI i Ann Arbor's oldest, biggest & best coffeehouse has a great deal gin on... One FREE bagel with the purchase of any double drink! lam-9am Monday thru Friday t s n U~niversity Acivities Cener Universities Activities Center 2105 Michigan Union 763-1107 Fspwesso Royal. (af fe @ 3ZA South State Hacon (0 f r. t ate fY St IW~tion M otlf 49Nwothoffers I wwr I CONGRATULATIONS THE ONLY THING AS PLEASANT AS BUYING A SATURN IS LEASING ONE. 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