Essays collected in the book: • "Derivative Sport in
Tornado Alley" (''
Harper's'', December 1991, under the title "Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes"): An autobiographical essay about Wallace's youth in the Midwest, his involvement in competitive tennis, and his interest in mathematics. • "E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction" (
The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 1993) • "Getting Away from Already Being Pretty Much Away from It All" (''Harper's'', 1994, under the title "Ticket to the Fair"): Wallace's experiences and opinions on the 1993
Illinois State Fair, ranging from a report on competitive baton twirling to speculation on how the Illinois State Fair is representative of Midwestern culture and its subsets. • "Greatly Exaggerated" (
Harvard Book Review, 1991): A review of ''Morte d'Author: An Autopsy'' by
H. L. Hix, including Wallace's personal opinions on the role of the author in literary critical theory. • "
David Lynch Keeps His Head" (
Première, 1996): Wallace's experiences and opinions from visiting the set for
Lost Highway and his thoughts about Lynch's oeuvre. • "Tennis Player
Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness" (
Esquire, 1996, under the title "The String Theory"): Wallace's reporting of the qualifying rounds for 1995
Canadian Open and the Open itself, with the author's thoughts on the nature of tennis and professional athletics. • "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" (''Harper's'', 1996, under the title "Shipping Out"): Wallace's experiences and opinions on a seven-night luxury Caribbean cruise. ==In popular culture==