Both Flesh and Not (audiobook)

“At their best these essays remind us of Wallace’s arsenal of talents: his restless, heat-seeking reportorial eye; his ability to convey the physical or emotional truth of things with a couple of flicks of the wrist; his capacity to make leaps, from the mundane to the metaphysical, with breathtaking velocity and ardor.”
—New York Times

“David Foster Wallace left the essay form in a different state than it was in before he wrote. He wrote of Federer that he had ‘exposed the limits, and possibilities, of’ his sport. Wallace himself, with mystery and metaphysics galore, did no less for the essay.”
—Chicago Tribune

“I doubt there’s a single person reading this paper who needs me to explain why they should be excited about a new collection of previously uncollected David Foster Wallace essays. His nonfiction is born out of the sort of bitingly perceptive but deeply compassionate humanity our world needs more of, and we should savor every last bit of it he left us.”
—Rian Johnson, writer and director of Brick and Looper

“Like previous collections of David Foster Wallace’s essays, Both Flesh and Not displays the late author’s vast intellectual curiosity…showcase[s] Wallace’s ever-evolving, intimate, and often humorous relationship with language.”
—The New Yorker

“One of the best writers of our time…If you’ve never read David Foster Wallace before, his masterful study of Roger Federer, included in this anthology, is an ideal place to start.”
—Marie Claire

“A collection spanning twenty years of Wallace’s nonfiction writing on subjects as wide-ranging as math, Borges, democracy, the US Open, and the entire spectrum of human experience in between…Both Flesh and Not is excellent in its entirety and just as quietly, unflinchingly soul-stirring.”
—Atlantic

“The best passages are those that celebrate words and the author’s relationship with them…It is a treasure trove for those who love the complexities of language.”
—Time Out

“David Foster Wallace’s essays show a man struggling to figure out the complexities of discernment and judgment…It isn’t merely wonderful writing. It is a model of adult citizenship…In Both Flesh and Not, he is at the top of his game.”
—The Daily Beast

“These essays demonstrate Wallace’s interdisciplinary approach to both pop culture and abstruse academic discourse…For Wallace devotees, these essays are required reading.”
—Booklist

“It brings some welcome exposure to some of his best pieces.”
—Kirkus Reviews