David Foster Wallace (1962-2008)

 

Suzy Allman/The New York Times

 

I don't know if you've ever read this fellow, but here's some very sad news. The excellent still young American writer David Foster Wallace died only a few days ago, apparently a suicide. (I hadn't read his big 1996 novel Infinite Jest, only some earlier work and some short stories many years ago. I thought he was going to be great.) It turns out that he'd been a relentless depressive, on medication for many years, but any discussion of motives is obscene, strictly for the ghouls; you've got to respect anyone's decision to check out when they want. R.I.P. Let's agree that what he wrote was for the best. It's this 1996 interview, the 2004 "Consider The Lobster" essay for Gourmet magazine — in the course of which he says many things both smart and true — and what his editors have just written about him (links below) that ought to be pondered for a little longer. So please, when you've got the time, go ahead and read them.

 

http://www.salon.com/09/features/wallace1.html

             http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster

             http://www.slate.com/id/2200293/pagenum/all/#page_start

01:28 - Monday 15 September 2008 - post comment

Gone with greats!

Dear Boris,
Thanks for shedding light on this sad and sorry loss.
Hopefully this might ask editor's and readers the difficult question of how do we pay for art?
Surely professionals like this one deserve to suffer a little less than they do.
Less pressure might mean more art?
In a world gone mad obsessed with reality TV shows and the latest fashions, where is the art in this?
More superficiality and less contemplation?
I hope that the world can look a bit deeper into the words on a page and realize its value.
R.I.P Mr Wallace.
You are in a better place now.
H

R.I.P - 13:32 - Thursday 25 September 2008

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