A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Over the seven essays in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, Wallace uses an increasing number of footnotes. Traditionally, a footnote or endnote provides additional information that the author (for aesthetic, editorial, or other reasons) chooses not to include in the main body of the text. Footnotes may provide information about sources, define terms, or expand on an idea. Initially, Wallace uses them in this manner. This use evolves over the course of the essays, however, to the point that footnotes eventually occupy multiple pages and contain anecdotes and digressions essential to the narrative of the essay yet secluded from it. In his essay about Michael Joyce, for instance, Wallace uses them to provide insight into the technical and financial realities of the tennis competition that, while relevant to the discussion of the Canadian Open, are not necessarily relevant to the essay’s depiction of Joyce himself.

However, in the final essay, the titular piece about the cruise, Wallace uses a complex system of footnotes on nearly every page. Besides continuing to use footnotes to provide background information about the cruise line, Wallace includes his own anecdotes and experiences in them rather than in the main essay. This creates a diffusing effect, mirroring Wallace’s mental diffusion as his bizarre experience of the cruise takes a toll on his psyche. His mind fragments, just like his narrative, and the complex use of footnotes is a literary expression of this fragmentation. Additionally, it foreshadows their use in Wallace’s novel Infinite Jest. The novel, which was published a year after the essay collection, is famous for its use of footnotes. Thus, the essays trace the evolution of Wallace’s use of footnotes to their final form in the novel.