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| Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes http://infinitesummer.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=422 |
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| Author: | mjdemo [ Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes |
Hey, I just read this 1991 article from Harper's by DFW: "Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes": My apologies if this has been discussed already, but wow there's some great background stuff in there: 1) It describes in more detail than I have found elsewhere, DFW's early tennis career and playing style, which informs how we writes about tennis in his later work. 2) Apparently the Hal-Avril-mold-eating anecdote is based on a true story which DFW witnessed at a neighbor's house - a lot of the writing in IJ seems to be lifted almost verbatim from this story. 3) DFW's tennis pal and foil in his adolescence was apparently named Gil Antitoi, descended from Quebecois Canadians, who lived near him in East Central IL. 4) It describes his early fascination with mathematics and how it relates to the landscape. I can confirm a lot of the background details that DFW alludes to in this piece because I spent 4 years in college in Urbana, IL at the University of Illinois, where DFW's father, James Wallace, was a philosophy professor. I note in passing that Peter Beak, a minor ETA student in IJ, is also the name of a chemistry professor at the U of I - not sure if that means anything. |
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| Author: | storm [ Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:49 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes |
I'd read Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley in conjunction with this essay. It covers a lot of the same stuff. Slightly different info that helps flesh it all out more. |
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| Author: | stephaniejane [ Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes |
His father's name was James? As in, James Incandenza? Hmm. |
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