The radio operators

Oh gosh, this is good: a few Kenyon College students recall David Foster Wallace’s commencement address.

There’s one line in particular that rings out like a bell (emphasis mine):

Mike L.: The one emotion I remember is intensity: he was clear, driving, and inwardly focused. He also didn’t say anything dismissively. Whether it was his technique or his real feeling I have no idea, but he read the speech like he was passing on a message of importance. Sitting here, I picture a guy at a radio in a bunker intercepting a message, then reading it off to someone else, wasting no time and enunciating every syllable.

What a vivid metaphor for good writing, good art. You’re down in the bunker, leaning in close, listening hard, repeating what you hear.