I picked this book up because I had heard the name ‘David Foster Wallace’, so many times on the podcast - ‘On writing’.

I am not particularly interested in Tennis. Where I’m from people are interested in and played cricket, primarily. As did I. Growing up, I got into table tennis. And then, later on, purely as a spectator - football.

When I started the book, I felt a certain disconnect - perhaps in the way the first essay was written. I had just finished Every day I read, which has simpler language. Or maybe David used to have a flowery writing style then.

Anyway. I moved on from that first essay and the rest went like a cool breeze. I enjoyed reading about David’s experiences at different tournaments. It felt like I was there. And I guess that’s David’s superpower.

One effect of the book is that I downloaded Tennis Clash to play some tennis of my own.