“I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.”

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About David Foster Wallace

American writer and professor

David Foster Wallace was an American writer and professor. He published novels, short stories, and essays, and is best known for his 1996 novel, Infinite Jest. His work spans fiction and nonfiction, and he became especially noted for the range and ambition of his writing. In 2008, David Ulin of the Los Angeles Times described Wallace as one of the most influential and innovative writers of the previous twenty years.

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Books by David Foster Wallace

Infinite Jest

1996

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Brief Interviews With Hideous Men

2001

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The Pale King

2012

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Everything and more

2003

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Consider the lobster, and other essays

2005

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