I purposefully strayed away from reading DFW after disliking Consider the Lobster. I now admit that when I read Consider the Lobster I wasn't in the right frame of mind, perhaps lacking maturity or a number of other things which I now possess in relative abundance.

This collection is a masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, all the essays transcend the sport of tennis, which is why the book is so widely highly regarded, but the first two are pure magic. I can't think of a fitting superlative for the way David Foster Wallace writes. We're talking about a stranglehold on the English language. A unique gift.

One of the best books I've read this year.