David Foster Wallace: In His Own Words

A collection of recordings featuring David Foster Wallace reading his work and discussing literature, writing, and life, offering an intimate glimpse into his brilliant, curious, and often self-deprecating mind through his own voice.

Collected here for the first time are the stories and speeches of David Foster Wallace as read by the author himself. Over the course of his career, David Foster Wallace recorded a variety of his work in diverse circumstances — from studio recordings to live performances — that are finally compiled in this unique collection. Some of the pieces collected here are: “Another Pioneer,” recorded at The University of Arizona Poetry Center; stories from Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and Consider the Lobster, recorded in the studio, and the unforgettable “This Is Water,” his 2005 commencement address given at Kenyon College. Also included are two interviews and a 2005 conversation with Rick Moody at Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

For fans of David Foster Wallace who have read everything he ever wrote as well as those looking to familiarize themselves with his work, David Foster Wallace: In His Own Words is a special, unique collection unavailable anywhere else.

This collection has a special introduction written and read by acclaimed writer and editor John Jeremiah Sullivan. 

“[David Foster Wallace’s] delivery is dead-on and fresh, the words often springing from his mouth as if conceived on the spot . . . an audible confirmation that modern American writing continues to gain strength.” —Publishers Weekly on the Consider the Lobster audio portion in David Foster Wallce: In HIs Own Words