On Tennis

Five Essays

By: David Foster Wallace

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of Infinite Jest and Consider the Lobster: A collection of five brilliant essays on tennis, from the author's own experience as a junior player to his celebrated profile of Roger Federer at the peak of his powers.

A "long-time rabid fan of tennis," and a regionally ranked tennis player in his youth, David Foster Wallace wrote about the game like no one else. On Tennis presents David Foster Wallace's five essays on the sport, published between 1990 and 2006, and hailed as some of the greatest and most innovative sports writing of our time.

This lively and entertaining collection begins with Wallace's own experience as a prodigious tennis player ("Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley"). He also challenges the sports memoir genre ("How Tracy Austen Broke My Heart"), takes us to the US Open ("Democracy and Commerce at the U.S. Open"), and profiles of two of the world's greatest tennis players ("Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff About Choice, Freedom, Limitation, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness" and "Federer Both Flesh and Not").

With infectious enthusiasm and enormous heart, Wallace's writing shows us the beauty, complexity, and brilliance of the game he loved best.

©2014 David Foster Wallace (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Read This Book

Where does On Tennis rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Best so far. But to be honest I've only read (listened) to three.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author is my favorite character because he is both informative, entertaining, and insightful. Okay, that's three, but still, it's a treat of a book for anyone remotely interested in tennis.

Have you listened to any of Robert Petkoff’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrator rocks.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh out loud funny. And often.

He got it!

Excellent writing and understanding of the love of tennis! Must read for all tennis fans.

Worth re-reading!

D.F.Wallace is the guy you wanted to talk tennis with. The conversations outside of time. Read it for the love of pros, for the provocation, for the reminder of why you play.

Pro Tennis in a nutshell

I was recommended this collection by a journalist friend after they learned of my extensive competitive tennis history. This text is such a true summation of multiple facets of the professional and semi-pro game and all beautifully, colorfully, written. Read it and understand and appreciate this poetic game in a new way.

Why Tennis?

Because the experience delivered by a master of the written word when describing a deeply loved anything, will bathe you in a flow of truth.

Even if you have never played, or even seen a tennis match, this ride is well worth the price of a ticket.

Wonderful tennis stories..

David Foster Wallace brings to life all the grace beauty and difficulty of tennis. He shares personal childhood experiences both high and low in this life transforming sport for him. He brings deep insight into the lives of professional players and delves into the inner recesses of the game familiar only to those who have deep experience with tennis. It is a fantastic voyage into the author's mind, and it is a pleasure to enjoy the rich tapestry he weaves with words about this wonderful sport of tennis.

Captures all that makes tennis magical & artistic

Brings to light with crystal clear focus the wonders of competitive tennis. So, and also entertains and enlarges ones understanding of the miraculous diversity of human beings.

Fantastic performance

Footnotes aren't distracting, as I feared that they might be. Highest marks to the narrator.

This Guy Can Write

I had never heard of this author before and found while looking for a book on tennis. This is a collection of articles he wrote. Each stands on their own but all are worth a read. This guy was a master at prose.

Enjoyed the book for the most part

It's an excellent book on the subject of tennis. I just didn't enjoy this constant digression to footnotes and wasted effort and snarkiness of the chapter on us open organisation.