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This Is Water: The Original David Foster Wallace Recording
- Narrated by: David Foster Wallace
- Length: 24 mins
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Publisher's summary
Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life
Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. This is the audio recording of David Foster Wallace delivering that very address. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend.
Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every listen.
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- Narrated by: Lauren Graham
- Length: 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In this expansion of her 2017 commencement speech at her hometown Langley High, Lauren Graham reflects in her hilarious, relatable voice on growing up, pursuing your dreams, and living in the here and now. "Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing," she writes, "is that you keep finding joy in what you're doing, especially when the joy isn't finding you." She reminds us to be curious and compassionate, no matter where life takes you.
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Too short
- By Stacy G. on 04-03-18
By: Lauren Graham
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The Pale King
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The agents at the IRS Regional Examination Center in Peoria, Illinois, appear ordinary enough to newly arrived trainee David Foster Wallace. But as he immerses himself in a routine so tedious and repetitive that new employees receive boredom-survival training, he learns of the extraordinary variety of personalities drawn to this strange calling. And he has arrived at a moment when forces within the IRS are plotting to eliminate even what little humanity and dignity the work still has.
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The King is dead, long live the King!
- By Darwin8u on 10-31-16
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We Should All Be Feminists
- By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Narrated by: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In this personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from the much-admired TEDx talk of the same name—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century. Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often masked realities of sexual politics, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman now—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.
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compelling
- By Gregg Coffin on 06-01-17
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On Tennis
- Five Essays
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of Infinite Jest and Consider the Lobster: A collection of five brilliant essays on tennis, from the author's own experience as a junior player to his celebrated profile of Roger Federer at the peak of his powers. A "long-time rabid fan of tennis," and a regionally ranked tennis player in his youth, David Foster Wallace wrote about the game like no one else. On Tennis presents David Foster Wallace's five essays on the sport, published between 1990 and 2006, and hailed as some of the greatest and most innovative sports writing of our time.
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Inspiration, though, is contagious, and multiform
- By Darwin8u on 01-27-17
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What listeners say about This Is Water: The Original David Foster Wallace Recording
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- matt
- 05-29-15
taoism from the tortured modern American soul.
living with Conscientious awareness of our surroundings and the people in our daily lives and choosing how we respond to it all. The eternal capital T truth is that man must learn how to endure his own internal monolog if he ever wishes to find harmony.
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2 people found this helpful
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- O41-112
- 11-14-18
Thought-provoking
A fascinating, thought-provoking commencement address--a must-listen for those in education. The insights from his talk have stayed with me since first hearing it years ago.
#thought-provoking #greatforeducators #tagsgiving #sweepstakes
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- A. Vance
- 05-23-24
He gets it
Or he got it. But in the end keeping the beauty and mystery at the forefront was too difficult a task. I wish there was a world where he could have lived
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- Stephen
- 05-20-15
Powerful
This quiet, unassuming speech packs a lot of Truth in its 20-minute delivery by the author, David Foster Wallace. It is a meditation that I have come back to many times.
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5 people found this helpful
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- S. Mahon
- 05-06-19
Wish dfw followed his own advice and observations
Great speech, great use of language, zooming between the mundane and the metaphysical . Worth relistening to this every now and again.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-25-17
AMAZING AND POWERFUL. LISTEN, LEARN, REPEAT
I love this and I listen to it regularly. A simply amazing speech with an incredible point of view on life and our options of how and what to think about. I cannot recommend this speech enough. The world would be a better place if everyone took this speech to heart.
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- merc
- 08-27-19
amazing!!!!!
by far the best $4 I've spent ever. so so so so so so good!!
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- Dara Safe
- 06-26-20
Beautiful speech
David Foster Wallace lays down some insightful and crucial ideas about life. I have to say this is the best Audible Original I have listened to so far!
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- Jordan Kenney
- 09-19-19
Review of This is Water. Amazing short story of consciousness awareness and open mindedness. I really enjoyed it
I loved this, great sense of awareness and metaphor! I loved this short read, so much covered in such a little time
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- Rebecca Parish
- 01-15-18
Yes!
How often I've tried to articulate this, but not nearly so well. I should listen to this every week.
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