“What's the worst that could possibly happen?”
Why it's great
A light rhetorical question that forces out the heaviest fear underneath.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
Just send the email. What's the worst that could happen?
00:00 / 02:25
00:00 / 02:25
Wallace Fears Liking the Attention, Explained
The End of the Tour · 2015
Chapter 14 of 17 · 2'25"
With the tour over, David Foster Wallace tells David Lipsky what he has been afraid of all along: not the attention itself, but 'that I really get to like it.' He dreads becoming a writer who shows up for photos and game shows, and admits he will have to 'decompress' from the attention before he can write again.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:34–1:23
Wallace Names His Real Fear
49s - 1:38–2:23
❝ Monologue · 6 lines Wallace Fears Being a Parody of Himself
45s
Wallace Fears Liking the Attention, explained
What happens
Now that the book tour is over, Wallace admits he has been sleepwalking through the past three weeks and will have to feel all of it. He tells Lipsky his real fear is not being watched but getting to like it, turning into the kind of writer who keeps showing up for attention. He dreads the quiet return to a small life.
What's really going on
The tour is over, and with the performance of being interviewed finally done, Wallace says the thing he could not say earlier. His fear is precise and strange: not that people will look at him, but 'that I really get to like it.' He describes attention as an addiction — 'like gettin' heroin injected into your cortex' — and worries that the writer of a book about how seductive image is could 'become a parody of that very thing,' appearing on a game show or angling into the back of a photo. Lipsky, the journalist, is the one arguing the other side, that liking an audience is not a crime. But Wallace's dread is about identity: he says he is '34 years old and I'm alone in a room with a piece of paper,' and that is the self he trusts. The scene is the film's quiet thesis, spoken by the man it is about, to the man who will write him down.
Key lines & what they mean
- “What's the worst that could possibly happen?”
- Lipsky's question pushing Wallace to name his fear, which turns out not to be harm but enjoyment.
- “The worst? That I really get to like it. That's the worst.”
- Wallace's answer: the danger of fame is that he might come to enjoy the attention he distrusts.
- “that I'm 34 years old and I'm alone in a room with a piece of paper.”
- His image of the honest writer's life, the reality he wants to return to after the tour.
- “What if I become a parody of that very thing?”
- His fear that writing about how seductive image is could make him the perfect example of it.
Theme
- Identity — Wallace fears that fame will turn him into a parody of the writer he set out to be.
- Loneliness — He pictures his real life as being alone in a room with a piece of paper, and the tour as a drug he must come down from.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level1/6
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“The worst? That I really get to like it. That's the worst.”
Why it's great
He answers his own question by naming liking it as the disaster.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
The worst? That I really get to like this city.
“that I'm 34 years old and I'm alone in a room with a piece of paper.”
Why it's great
It strips away the fame and leaves only age, solitude and a sheet of paper.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
It's just me, alone in a room with a blank page.
“What if I become a parody of that very thing?”
Why it's great
The question captures the fear of becoming the very thing he warned against.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
What if I become a parody of the values I preach?
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ On coming down from attention
I'm gonna have to decompress from all this attention, because it's like gettin'... it's like gettin' heroin injected into your cortex. And where I'm gonna need real balls, is to... sit and go through that. And try to remind myself of what the reality is... that I'm 34 years old and I'm alone in a room with a piece of paper.
He compares attention to a drug, then lands on being alone with paper.
Up next · 15autobiographicalThe scene: Lipsky Asks Wallace About HeroinTakeaways
What you walk away with- Fame here is framed as an addiction, not a reward.
- The scariest outcome is liking the attention.
- The speech ends on paper, not on crowds.
- He warns himself against becoming a parody.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy is Wallace afraid of the tour ending?
He says he has been sleepwalking through it and will now have to feel everything. The end of the tour means he must come down from the attention and face his ordinary life again.
What is Wallace actually afraid of?
Not being watched, but learning to like it. He says the worst that could happen is 'that I really get to like it,' which would turn him into the kind of writer he mocks.
Why does Wallace mention becoming a parody?
He wrote about how seductive image is, and he fears ending up as a living example of it — showing up on game shows and angling into the back of photos.
What does Wallace mean by 'alone in a room with a piece of paper'?
It is his picture of the real writing life and the self he trusts, as opposed to the public figure the tour has been making of him.