“I don't even know if I like you yet.”
Why it's great
It says out loud the awkward truth most people only think during an interview.
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Informal
Use it yourself
I don't even know if I fit in here yet.
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00:00 / 05:03
Wallace and Lipsky First Meeting, Explained
The End of the Tour · 2015
Chapter 3 of 17 · 5'03"
Over lunch, David Foster Wallace admits the interview makes him uneasy: 'I don't even know if I like you yet,' he tells journalist David Lipsky, then asks whether Lipsky likes him. Talk drifts from fame to food to feeling bought and sold — both men circling the fear of being seen on someone else's terms.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 1:30–2:33
❝ Monologue · 7 lines Wallace Fears Selling Himself on Tour
64s
Wallace and Lipsky First Meeting, explained
What happens
At a diner during the book tour, journalist David Lipsky and novelist David Foster Wallace size each other up. Wallace is wary of how the piece will frame him and says he is not sure he even likes Lipsky yet. They banter about interviewing, fame, food, and publicity, then continue the conversation in the car.
What's really going on
This is less a meal than a negotiation about who gets to define whom. Wallace opens by naming the power imbalance out loud — Lipsky will 'go back to New York and sit at your desk and shape this thing however you want' — and admits the thought is 'extremely disturbing,' because he would like to 'shape the impression of me that's coming across.' Then comes the line that sets the tone for the whole film: 'I don't even know if I like you yet.' It is both a warning and an invitation, and when he adds that he is nervous about whether Lipsky likes him, the neediness under the honesty is plain. As they move to fame, money and junk food, Wallace keeps testing whether he is being admired or sold, calling the tour work 'being a whore' while joking about book sales. The scene's real subject is the impossibility of being known without being packaged.
Key lines & what they mean
- “I don't even know if I like you yet.”
- The line that breaks the ice by refusing to: Wallace admits he has not decided about Lipsky, turning an interview into something disarmingly personal.
- “It really worries me that what I'm doing right now is like being a whore.”
- Wallace's fear that the book tour and publicity are a kind of prostitution, trading his work and himself for attention and sales.
- “Mmm, but what saves us is that most entertainment is not very good.”
- His wry comfort about junk culture: bad entertainment is harmless because it never fully seduces anyone.
- “I can't stand to look like I'm actively trading off this sexually.”
- His dread of seeming to trade sex for advantage, even as he admits he would happily do it.
Theme
- Identity — Wallace wants to control the impression he gives, afraid the interview will define him for readers who never met him.
- Deception — He calls the tour 'being a whore,' uneasy that publicity sells an image of the work instead of the work itself.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level3/6
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“It really worries me that what I'm doing right now is like being a whore.”
Why it's great
The blunt word turns a book tour into a moral accusation against himself.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
It worries me that this whole launch feels like begging.
“Mmm, but what saves us is that most entertainment is not very good.”
Why it's great
A wry compliment: bad entertainment is the only thing keeping us safe.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
What saves us is that most sequels are easy to skip.
“I can't stand to look like I'm actively trading off this sexually.”
Why it's great
It exposes the self-disgust of trading sex for fame in one blunt clause.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
I can't stand to look like I'm chasing a promotion.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ On wanting to be wanted
The thing about the tour is, yes, I would like to get laid off of it a couple of times. People come up. They kind of, like, slither up. And it seems like... I don't know. What I want is not to have to take any action. What kind of action? I don't want to have to say, like, "Do you want to come back to the hotel?" I want them to say, "I am coming back to your hotel."
He stages a fantasy of being chosen without asking, and the passivity says more than the desire.
Up next · 04channel surfingThe scene: Wallace on Why We Feel EmptyTakeaways
What you walk away with- Admitting nerves is what finally breaks the ice between them.
- Wallace fears the story more than the interview.
- The candy scene turns a heavy talk into a joke.
- Fame feels like a transaction he cannot control.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy is Wallace uneasy about the magazine interview?
He knows Lipsky will go back to New York and shape the story however he wants, and he calls that idea extremely disturbing because he would like to control the impression readers get of him.
Why does Wallace tell Lipsky he doesn't even know if he likes him yet?
It is his blunt way of naming the awkward setup: a stranger will decide how the world sees him. He then admits he is nervous about whether Lipsky likes him, so the feeling is mutual.
Why does Wallace compare the book tour to 'being a whore'?
He feels publicity can mean selling himself rather than his work — cashing in on fame and misunderstandings just to move more copies. The thought worries him even as he jokes about it.
Why do they keep talking about junk food?
Food becomes a way to talk about pleasure and selling out. Wallace says it has no nourishment but is real pleasurable, calls it seductive commercial entertainment, then jokes that most entertainment is not very good.
What does 'dweeb' mean?
It is slang for a goofy, awkward nerd. Wallace asks to be quoted in a context where he does not sound like a total dweeb, mocking his own earnestness.