Summary

On his 13th birthday, an unnamed boy in Tucson, Arizona goes swimming with his family at a local public pool. The beginning of the story emphasizes the boy's recent changes in puberty, including vividly detailing the experience of his first wet dreams. Without telling anybody, the boy gets in line for the high-dive, and hesitates at the top while taking in the scene around him.

Analysis

Wallace writes "Forever Overhead" in the unconventional second person so that the reader could more closely experience the events through the boy's eyes. Similar to the previous story, "Death Is Not The End," "Forever Overhead" also takes place over a very short period of time, but describes the setting and “view” from the unnamed boy character in intense detail.

Wallace does not describe subjects like puberty or wet dreams in a way that suggests sexuality or stimulation...