String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis: A Library of America Special Publication

Yes…. It’s about tennis but so much more! Improve your game as you stimulate your brain.

He enjoyed it as a tennis player

Good read, great gift for tennis players

Book was a gift

You don't have to be a tennis fan to enjoy this collection of David Foster Wallace stories on the sport. From his autobiographical "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart" to the pinnacle of tennis (and maybe even sports) writing - "[Roger] Federer as Religious Experience" - this book covers the best from the late, great writer. You can find each of the essays online with some creative Googling, but there's something about reading these in print in this beautiful, hard-bound, green volume that is a must-have addition for the bookshelf of fans of tennis, writing or both. I've read each of these at least five times and still find new things to enjoy every time.

I don't know what the other reviewer here is on about, but I absolutely adore this essay collection. Granted, I'm a tennis player and a huge DFW fan, and his writing style isn't for everyone. If you're a tennis fan you'll definitely love this. If you're a DFW fan you'll probably enjoy it, especially the essays focusing more around tennis culture instead of the game itself. Really well done, and I normally wouldn't mention this but the book itself is very high quality, as in it looks and feels like you got your money's worth. Plus Sullivan's intro is pretty cool.

There has been interest in David Foster Wallace, perhaps more so after is 2008 suicide. In this book, there are essays that have appeared elsewhere. While he is extremely clever and insightful, he is also at times boorish and vulgar. I wonder why I had to spend so much time reading his long, small fonted footnotes, when there is ample time and space to explain things in the main text. It is typical of Mr. Wallace to write a critique of the US Open ending with him watching a concession worker steal food, and give it to the cabbies and car service guys. It brings down the whole level of his observations, and I wonder how important it is in the scheme of tennis analysis.Mr. Wallace adored Roger Federer, which is fine, but it is also dated. The sport has moved on, which is neither good nor bad, just reality. I bought a copy of "Infinite Jest", reputedly Wallace's chef d'oeuvre, but after reading a few essay collections, those 1000 pages will remain unread in my house, at least for the foreseeable future.

No doubt DFW is a masterful writer, and some of the essays are informative and well told. Made me curious why he thought so poorly of Connors. I felt his US Open piece went a little long, as the Tracey Austen essay. Both points made, but dragged on. I'm a big Lendl fan, so good to see him getting his due as the first of the players to utilize modern technology in his game (kind of like the Nigel Mansel of tennis :))