String Theory by David Foster Wallace on Tennis

David Foster Wallace died September 12th, 2008. He was 46 years old

An Art Teacher once told us that the phrase he hated to hear most was “I don’t know much about art but I know what I like”. Well I didn’t know much about Tennis but David Foster Wallace pointed the way to what is really exciting about it.

Of the 5 essays, I really liked  most“How Tracy Austin Broke my Heart” and “Federer, both Flesh and Not”.   

One exposure only to this writer and his love of the sport is enough to be contagious. His skill in writing made the difference in how well these ideas could be addictive.

“The Truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you."

This quote is from Foster's 1996 novel, "Infinite Jest". Time magazine included that novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923. that seems to support the overall writing skill that I found in this novel. Much of what he writes in “String Theory” seems to want to look closer at the truth behind what is happening in the vairous actions and lives around tennis.

In physics “String Theory” is a term that is used to understand a theoretical framework where things described as strings interact with each other. The interaction and implication that tennis and life have was explored in an interesting way in this book.

If I finish a book and then glad that I read it, it was a success. This book was just that.