One of the last pieces of writing Wallace completed before his far-too-early death by suicide was this curious 2005 commencement speech that is a powerful, poignant distillation of some of his most important themes. Though the speech was subsequently released by Little, Brown as a pamphlet-sized hardcover, this audio version — with a wonderful delivery by Wallace’s younger sister, Amy — is the best way to experience these thoughts. Here Wallace offers his most straightforward, persuasive system for surviving in a world that too often seems dismal and dispiriting, essentially how to learn “the only thing that's capital-T True”: “you get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't.” It’s Wallace’s snarky, witty, erudite argument for exerting your humanity in an often inhumane world, a speech that many say elevated him from author to guru. Best of all, This Is Water is a delightful, deep book that can be listened to again and again, and one that will make you look at both Wallace and his fiction with fresh eyes.