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The End of the Tour · 2015 — 第 7 / 17 章 · 5'03" · B2

Lipsky Asks About the Bandanna, Explained：security blanket

David Lipsky breaks the ice by asking David Foster Wallace about his bandanna, and the joke backfires: 'Because now I'm worried it's going to seem intentional,' Wallace says. A harmless accessory becomes a spiral about image, sincerity, and whether he can do anything without it reading as a commercial choice.

あらすじ

On the book tour, David Lipsky asks David Foster Wallace why he wears a bandanna, after hearing people call it a pitch to younger readers. Wallace worries the question has made the bandanna look calculated, then explains it began in Tucson as protection from sweat and became a comfort object. The interview turns personal, then moves to the airport.

Small talkStorytellingAskingConfessingFriendsB2fastamerican
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

get caught up insecurity blanketbrought this upmove in with someone

00:00 / 05:03
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  23. ❝ 独白The bandanna explained9 行練習ページ ↗
  85. ❝ 独白The towel boy story13 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

security blanket

a source of comfort

Wallace says the bandanna became a comfort object he reaches for when he is anxious.

Her phone is a security blanket when she travels alone.

このシーンの他の表現

  • get caught up in

    become entangled in

  • brought this up

    raised a topic

  • move in with someone

    start living with someone

  • hereby request

    formally ask, in writing

  • in effect

    essentially, in practice

このシーンのメモ一覧

97 行のセリフに 32 件のメモ

表現 · B2farm support

state aid to farming

Then there's a lot of farm support.
表現 · B2get caught up in something

become entangled in

Asked why he avoids New York, Wallace says he gets swallowed by the scene there.

Every time I go to New York, I get caught up in this...
表現 · B1what is with something

what's the deal with

So, I gotta ask. What is with the bandanna?
発音What is

What is can blur into one unit, with is reduced.

So, I gotta ask. What is with the bandanna?
表現 · B2connect to someone

reach out to

No, people think it's your way of connecting to a younger reading audience.
発音Gen Xers

Stress Gen and let Xers stay light and quick.

I don't see many Gen Xers wearing them. Geez.
表現 · B1bring something up

raised a topic

The moment the bandanna comes up, Wallace half jokes that he wishes Lipsky had never raised it.

I kinda wish you hadn't brought this up, man.
スラング · B1kinda

kind of, sort of — Casual speech only; keep it out of formal talk.

I kinda wish you hadn't brought this up, man.
表現 · B2seem intentional

look deliberate

Because now I'm worried it's going to seem intentional.
文法 · B2I'm worried it's going to seem intentional

object clause: A clause after worried spells out exactly what the speaker is afraid of.

Because now I'm worried it's going to seem intentional.
表現 · C1bow to something

yield to

because I'm bowing to other people's perception that it's a commercial choice?
表現 · B2be perceived as something

be seen as

Or do I do what I wanna do even though it's perceived as a commercial choice?
スラング · A2wanna

want to — Everyday speech; never in writing.

Or do I do what I wanna do even though it's perceived as a commercial choice?
発音gotta go

The t in gotta nearly disappears before go.

It's like a whole crazy circle I gotta go around in now.
表現 · B1a hundred degrees

extremely hot

In Tucson. It was, like, a hundred degrees all the time.
表現 · B1at some point

at some time

And then, at some point, I realized I felt better with them on.
表現 · B2a security blanket

a source of comfort

Wallace says the bandanna became a comfort object he reaches for when he is anxious.

I know that it's a security blanket for me whenever I feel nervous...
文法 · B1whenever I feel nervous

time clause: Whenever marks a repeated trigger rather than one single moment.

I know that it's a security blanket for me whenever I feel nervous...
表現 · B2keep oneself together

hold oneself together

or, like, I gotta keep myself together.
表現 · B1split up

break up

When they split up, I moved in with her to SoHo, and my brother moved in with my dad.
表現 · B1move in with someone

start living with someone

Explaining his parents' divorce, Lipsky says flatly who each son ended up living with.

When they split up, I moved in with her to SoHo, and my brother moved in with my dad.
表現 · C1a house divided

a split household

What was it like, you know, growing up in a house divided like that?
表現 · B1a World War II novel

a WWII novel

I think I started a World War II novel when I was nine.
スラング · B1Come on

oh, come on — Teasing or pushback with friends; not formal.

It was so good, some of my best work. Come on.
表現 · C1hereby request

formally ask, in writing

To block an interview with his parents, Wallace wraps the refusal in mock-official language.

I hereby request that you don't.
表現 · B1have a problem with something

object to something

And so I would have a problem with that. Mmm, okay.
スラング · B2Crap

bad, junky — Mild vulgarity; fine with friends, not elders.

Crap jobs? Oh, man.
スラング · C1chichi

posh, pretentious — Slightly mocking; mostly describes places.

I was a towel boy at this chichi health club.
表現 · C1in effect

essentially, in practice

Recalling his health-club job, Wallace admits that the grander title amounted to handing out towels.

I was, in effect, a towel boy.
表現 · B2be trusted with something

be entrusted with

Occasionally trusted with checking people in.
文法 · C1trusted with checking people in

past participle phrase: The past participle phrase describes the subject and hides who did the trusting.

Occasionally trusted with checking people in.
スラング · B2Holy shit

no way — Vulgar surprise; never in polite company.

I'd been on a rostrum with this guy... Holy shit.

「Lipsky Asks About the Bandanna」を読み解く

What's really going on

The bandanna is a small thing that Wallace cannot leave small. Lipsky asks a light question, and Wallace immediately hears the interview itself: 'now I'm worried it's going to seem intentional,' he says, caught between wearing it and not wearing it. What he describes is the trap of being watched — every ordinary choice becomes a statement once a journalist is in the room. His answer is unusually honest: the bandanna started as a practical fix for sweating in Tucson and became 'a security blanket ... whenever I feel nervous,' not a style or a trademark. That honesty is exactly what the scene tests. When Lipsky turns the questions on Wallace's parents, Wallace draws a line — 'I hereby request that you don't' — reminding us who is in control of the story, and who is only pretending to be.

Theme

IdentityA bandanna becomes a fight over how Wallace is seen, whether his choices are style or just himself.
TrustLipsky's innocent question makes Wallace wary of the interview, testing how much he can be open.

このチャプターで学べること

  • A small accessory turns into a test of integrity.
  • Every answer can start to feel like a public statement.
  • The interview works only while both men hold a line.
  • Bad jobs get told as comedy, not complaint.

発音のポイント

  • What is — What is can blur into one unit, with is reduced.
  • Gen Xers — Stress Gen and let Xers stay light and quick.
  • gotta go — The t in gotta nearly disappears before go.
There's this enormous hiss of egos at various states of inflation and deflation.

Wallace's image of New York literary life: a room full of self-important people either puffing themselves up or deflating.

I would perspire so heavily, drip into the electric typewriter.

The unglamorous origin of the bandanna: in Tucson's heat he sweated so much it dripped onto his typewriter.

I was, in effect, a towel boy.

His blunt summary of a humiliating job at a fancy health club, whatever fancy title it came with.

It's more of a foible, the recognition of a weakness that I'm kind of afraid my head is gonna explode.

His defense of the bandanna: not a style or a trademark, but a small admission of a weakness he manages.

このシーンについての質問

Why is Wallace upset that Lipsky asked about the bandanna?

Because now the question is out there, any choice he makes — wearing it or not — can be read as intentional. He says it feels like 'a whole crazy circle' he has to go around.

Why does Wallace wear the bandanna?

He started wearing it in Tucson, where it was about a hundred degrees and he sweated so much it dripped onto his typewriter. Over time it became a comfort object that helps him stay steady.

Why won't Wallace let Lipsky interview his parents?

He says they are very private people and that he would have a problem with it. He asks Lipsky not to, a plain reminder that he can still decide what goes into the story.

What does Wallace mean by saying he was 'a strange kind of forger'?

In college he wrote papers for other students and found he could imitate anyone's voice. He calls that ability a little scary, as if he could counterfeit someone else's writing.

人生はローリングストーン · 全 17 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 8 章about as sexy asWallace Recalls His Eight Days
第 1 章once in a generationLipsky Pitches the Wallace Story第 2 章out of respectDave Wallace Doesn't Drink第 3 章shape the impressionWallace and Lipsky First Meeting第 4 章channel surfingWallace on Why We Feel Empty第 5 章comes with the territoryWallace on Why He Isn't Married第 6 章in a heartbeatDave Wallace Offers Lipsky a Room再生中 · 第 7 章security blanketLipsky Asks About the Bandanna第 8 章about as sexy asWallace Recalls His Eight Days第 9 章all downhill from hereWallace Reads at The Hungry Mind第 10 章make eyes at someoneWallace Calls Lipsky's Girlfriend第 11 章self-absorbedWallace on Being Shy and Egotistical第 12 章come on to someoneWallace Tells Lipsky to Stay Away第 13 章fauxWallace and Lipsky's Parking Lot Fight第 14 章sleepwalk throughWallace Fears Liking the Attention第 15 章autobiographicalLipsky Asks Wallace About Heroin第 16 章spiritual crisisDavid Foster Wallace on Depression第 17 章put my foot downWallace Dances at a Baptist Church
第 7 / 17 章 · 残り約 40 分