Sublime

The layers of asserting and then hedging those assertions to assert slightly more emphatically and imaginatively that would constitute Wallace’s style are beginning to form.

This was partly due to the substitute’s presentation, which was rapid, organized, undramatic, and dry in the way of people who know that what they are saying is too valuable in its own right to cheapen with concern about delivery or ‘connecting’ with the students. In other words, the presentation had a kind of zealous integrity that manifested not

Ivar had always been a charming guest, and he put on an urbane show for the Marcossons. But anyone who knew him well would have seen a new person. One of Ivar’s most consistent traits since childhood had been that he rarely laughed. Yet now he was suddenly a comedian, relaying humorous anecdotes throughout the day and cackling after the punch lines