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DFW on Federer

By posted at 8:03 am on September 10, 2006 2

Yesterday my friend Yakut emailed me the article “Federer as Religious Experience” by David Foster Wallace, which appeared in the New York Times’ Play Magazine on August 20, 2006 (available here). Wallace penned an immaculate piece on Roger Federer, who also happens to be my favorite tennis player these days. As per his custom, Wallace resorts to 17 footnotes, provides detailed accounts of what he terms “Federer Moments” from the Nadal v. Federer Wimbledon Final of 2006, comments – in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, of course – on the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and the tournament’s rules. It is a great ode to Federer, and contains a healthy rebuke of Nadal – who happens to be my least favorite pro these days. If you’re a tennis – and DFW – fan, enjoyed his essays in Consider the Lobster, and do not have the guts to restart Infinite Jest just yet, but would like to continue reading some brilliant prose, you should definitely check it out.

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2 Responses to “DFW on Federer”

  1. Anonymous
    at 10:20 pm on September 10, 2006

    If I'd read DFW's Federer piece before his other essays & fiction, I would not have given DFW a chance. Yuck.

  2. larick0011
    at 6:27 am on September 14, 2006

    I'd never seen or heard of DFW before reading his piece on Federer in the NYT on line, but I've read a whole lot about tennis through the years. DFW is the first published writer I've found who's captured the spirit of the fan's appreciation of a sport and its participants, though he did fall into the trap of favoring one player over another instead of enjoying the mix of the two.

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