In 1996, following the success of his article, ‘Getting Away from Already Being Pretty Much Away from It All’, a story he wrote on the Illinois State Fair, David Foster Wallace was commissioned by Harper’s magazine to go on a seven night cruise. As with the fair, the journalistic framework of the project was simply to write down what he saw. The outcome was ‘Shipping Out: On the (nearly lethal) comforts of a luxury cruise’, later renamed ‘A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never do Again’ when it appeared in its full form in a collection of essays of the same name.
The tone of ‘A Supposedly Fun Thing’ is funny, self-deprecating, closely observed and intelligent. In the article, Wallace detailed the extensive onboard activities, his crush on the non-English speaking woman who cleaned his cabin, the incredible whiteness of the ship, the near nakedness of his fellow passengers, the day’s 12 eating opportunities and more.
Most of it is playful, but also discussed – early in the essay – is the feeling of despair that comes with being on a cruise ship, ironic given that you board a cruise having been promised you will be pampered, almost to death, while you do absolutely nothing. Wallace wrote, “There is something about a mass market Luxury Cruise that’s unbearably sad.”
Novelist and former literary editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, Malcolm Knox, went on a cruise with a similar journalistic framework – to report what he saw and what he heard. The outcome is ‘Cruising’, which appeared in The Monthly in September of 2006.
My age and my ignorance of 90s America’s cruise trends means I don’t the context Wallace wrote his piece in. The article mentions briefly the popularity of cruises, the various cruise companies and their liners, as well as packages available – perhaps he was writing in the midst of a cruising boom.
The context of Knox’s piece, however, I do know, and not only because it is essentially its subject. The announcement that Knox had gone on a cruise to do a feature article on the Brimble case was met with a general reaction of horror. For those who don’t know the case, while on a cruise Diane Brimble was found dead in the cabin of a group of men, one or two of which had sex with her and gave her the drugs that eventually killed her. Knox going on a cruise was viewed as the very tabloid journalism he had been lauded for not doing, the kind of extreme a sensationalist ‘current affairs’ program would go to.
While the article was, in the end, reasonably well-received – it won Knox his second Walkley Award – it’s my belief that the whole idea came from Wallace’s article on cruising. Knox says as much in his article by making direct and oblique references to Wallace’s and his admiration for Wallace’s work is made known in the obituary Knox wrote for The Monthly when Wallace committed suicide in September 2008.
Tales of the high seas are not new – some of fiction’s masterpieces take place on board a ship. And I’m sure Wallace’s ‘A Supposedly Fun Thing’ was not the first article on luxury cruising. In fact, he referenced an essay on cruising by American author, Frank Conroy, that came with the onboard brochure, which he parodied throughout his article. I’m also sure it was not the first feature about cruising to be humorous or to talk about the despair associated with the experience.
But Wallace employs a unique, intelligent, witty voice to tell this particular story. Some might say that it was simply him, DFW the person, that made the story different from every other story about going on a cruise. However, the style of this story is different to that of some of his other nonfiction – in a lot there is this same mix of witty intelligence and self-deprecation, but not all. And it’s certainly not the style of his fiction, which, while humorous, tends to be bleak, cold and convoluted.
It is the style and voice that makes this story about cruising different to every other story about cruising. If we, as writers of nonfiction, can learn anything from ‘A Supposedly Fun Thing’, it is the effectiveness of a strong tone and confident style.
Knox’s story is an example of investigative journalism perhaps only slightly more than Wallace’s can be considered an example of investigative journalism. Knox went on the cruise almost four years after Diane Brimble’s death, so there was very little left to investigate. The reason it worked is because the colonial inquest was coming up – the Brimble case was still a part of the public conversation. Those on the cruise were there with Diane Brimble more or less in their minds.
“You can imagine her going into a cabin with men,” Knox reports one of his dinner companions as saying, “just because she’s friendly, and then, you know, men can get out of hand, can’t they?”
Much of the criticism of Knox’s article was over the fact it was so subjective. “I’m going to state a position that disgusts me,” Knox writes. “Morally, it is the wrong view. It is this: I feel pity for Mark Wilhelm.”
At the conclusion of the article, he writes: “What I cannot get over is the ridicule: the taking of the photos, the shaving, the posing of her body. That has nothing to do with whether or not she was dead at the time. Even if Dianne Brimble had woken up at 7 am and returned to her cabin to sleep it off, there is no forgiving the recording and display of her unconscious body for laughs. That, to me, is the worst.”
It raises an interesting question about subjectivity in serious journalism. But what makes it interesting for the sake of this piece is that, although it may have been inspired by Wallace’s article and the journalistic purpose of the two are similar, its perspective is different. Wallace reports what he sees on the cruise, the action revolves around him and his observations. While it is subjective and Wallace is the main character, the events are reported. Knox, too, is one of the main characters of his article but he repeatedly states a position. He states, with lots of “I thinks” and “I feels”, some of which are quite strong. And by stating, the tone is harsh and the objective is laid bare.
Borges, Argentinean short story and nonfiction writer, wrote in his essay “Translators of the Thousand and One Nights’: “To be different: this is the rule the precursor imposes.” Borges’s essay is an examination of different translations of the same book. Obviously in translating the same book, the differences, or similarities, become more apparent. It is particularly about Borges’s belief that Richard Francis Burton wrote his translation with the purpose of “annihilating” Edward Lane, his precursor. The modern writer may not especially set out to annihilate somebody who has written their story before they did – it’s certainly not the Knox’ intention to annihilate Wallace or his story – but nonfiction writers are bound to write a story that has, to some degree, been written before. In many ways, this is not a bad thing.
A precursor does two things – it can inspire you to do the same while forcing you to be different.
Lead Igloo
Read ‘Cruising’ by Malcolm Knox. Read ‘Shipping Out‘ (PDF 8MB) by David Foster Wallace.
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Dadaist poem created by a photocopying error.
Titled: Cruising boom
separates one from
He spoke briefly
ships they have,
a cruising boom.
because it is
on a cruise to do
of horror
while on a cruise,
one or two of which
Knox going
lauded for not doing,
Knox his second
Wallace’s article
and oblique references
made known in the
suicide in September
one of his dinner
you know men can get
so subjective. “I’m
I provided.
Wilhelm.”
Over is the ridicule: the
nothing to do
woken up at 7
recording and
the worst.”
Journalism.
Although it may have been
two are similar
the action Wallace is the
main characters of his
“I think”
one is harsh