“
Great short stories and great jokes have a lot in common. Both depend on what communication-theorists sometimes call “exformation,” which is a certain quantity of vital information removed from but evoked by a communication in such a way as to cause a kind of explosion of associative connections within the recipient. This is probably why the effect of both short stories and jokes often feels sudden and percussive, like the venting of a long-stuck valve.
—
David Foster Wallace in “Laughing with Kafka” (PDF), published in 1998 issue of Harper’s. (via explore-blog)
which is kinda funny considering DFW’s use of exformation
(via fieldnotesfromabroad)
Reblogged from Field Notes From a Broad
