RIP David Foster Wallace

[tugmoose]

Apparent suicide. That sucks.

 

David Foster Wallace, the author of "Infinite Jest," was found dead in his home in Claremont on Friday night. The 46-year-old author apparently committed suicide.

 

In 1996, Wallace talked to the online magazine Stim about the recently published "Infinite Jest."

 

[My] secret pretension ... I mean, every writer wants his book to change the world, but I guess I would like to know if the book moved people. I assume that the future the book talks about, while it might be amusing, wouldn't be a fun future to live in. I think it would be nice if the book could maybe make people think about some of the choices we are making, about what we pay attention to and give power to, so maybe the future won't be quite that ... glittery. but cold....

 

Fiction used to be people's magic carpet to other places.... You know, ''Oh, a really boring formulaic story but it takes place in Tibet.'' But now you turn on PBS and watch someone milking a yak.... Which means that one of fiction's fundamental jobs has been supplanted. But it has another one now. TV's illusion of access to other cultures is, in fact, an illusion. TV itself cannot comment on that.

 

David Foster Wallace was a recipient of a MacArthur "genuis" grant in 1997. He was teaching creative writing at Pomona College. He will be missed.

 

-- Carolyn Kellogg

[Sir Stewart]

Damn. Vibes to jnick and anyone else who digs this guy.

[bobbob1313]

My first thought was 'Jnick's gonna be devastated.'

 

I've looked into reading his stuff, but never did. I might give him a shot at some point.

 

Sad to hear anytime someone young dies, especially someone with so much apparent talent.

[Lammycat]

That blows. I bet his obit. is really, really long.

[Good Old Neon]

Thanks - at the moment, devastated is an understatement.

 

Now, more than ever:

 

Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address - May 21, 2005

 

(If anybody feels like perspiring [cough], I'd advise you to go ahead, because I'm sure going to. In fact I'm gonna [mumbles while pulling up his gown and taking out a handkerchief from his pocket].) Greetings ["parents"?] and congratulations to Kenyon's graduating class of 2005. There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What the hell is water?"

 

This is a standard requirement of US commencement speeches, the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories. The story ["thing"] turns out to be one of the better, less bullshitty conventions of the genre, but if you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don't be. I am not the wise old fish. The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about. Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude, but the fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance, or so I wish to suggest to you on this dry and lovely morning.

 

Of course the main requirement of speeches like this is that I'm supposed to talk about your liberal arts education's meaning, to try to explain why the degree you are about to receive has actual human value instead of just a material payoff. So let's talk about the single most pervasive clich

[uncool2pillow]

My first thought was 'Jnick's gonna be devastated.'

 

I've looked into reading his stuff, but never did. I might give him a shot at some point.

 

Sad to hear anytime someone young dies, especially someone with so much apparent talent.

Me too, sorry to all who knew and respected this man and/or his work. Esp. jnick

[kathyp]

Found this nice tribute picking through my newsreader this morning. I'm absolutely stunned.

[Good Old Neon]

As someone who has stood on the ledge, and felt the flames, the following passage from Infinite Jest is about as fitting an explanation as to the "why's" as we are likely to receive:

 

"The so-called 'psychotically depressed' person who tries to kill

herself doesn't do so out of quote 'hopelessness' or any abstract

conviction that life's assets and debits do not square. And surely not

because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its

invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself

the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of

a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from

burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still

just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at

the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling

remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire's

flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the

slightly less terrible of two terrors. It's not desiring the fall;

it's terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk,

looking up and yelling 'Don't!' and 'Hang on!', can understand the

jump. Not really. You'd have to have personally been trapped and felt

flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling." - DFW

[Sunken mountain]

As someone who has stood on the ledge, and felt the flames, the following passage from Infinite Jest is about as fitting an explanation as to the "why's" as we are likely to receive:

 

"The so-called 'psychotically depressed' person who tries to kill

herself doesn't do so out of quote 'hopelessness' or any abstract

conviction that life's assets and debits do not square. And surely not

because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its

invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself

the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of

a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from

burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still

just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at

the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling

remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire's

flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the

slightly less terrible of two terrors. It's not desiring the fall;

it's terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk,

looking up and yelling 'Don't!' and 'Hang on!', can understand the

jump. Not really. You'd have to have personally been trapped and felt

flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling." - DFW

I

[ms. yvon]

aww, hell. terrible news.

 

i'm mostly a fan of "brief interviews with hideous men."

[RaspberryJam]

Isn't there a movie of "Interviews" being made-That cute guy from The Office directing?

 

Such a shame. Arguably the best young-ish writer. I loved "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again."

[bjorn_skurj]

Man. Reminds me of the talks I had with my friends over whether writing makes one insane or insanity makes one write. I still don't know the answer to that question. I hope he is at peace now.

[bobbob1313]

Man. Reminds me of the talks I had with my friends over whether writing makes one insane or insanity makes one write. I still don't know the answer to that question. I hope he is at peace now.

 

I think it's gotta be a little bit of both, but if you put a lot of yourself into your writing, your personal demons will be more and more difficult to keep at bay.

[Good Old Neon]

Two of the better, more reflective and informative remembrances I

[bjorn_skurj]

I think it's gotta be a little bit of both, but if you put a lot of yourself into your writing, your personal demons will be more and more difficult to keep at bay.

Yes. This may be why I don't write as much as I ought to.

[mpolak21]

Very sad to see this. I slowly made my way through Infinite Jest last year, reading it in 20-30 page increments and exhaustively flipping to look up every footnote. I love all his stuff, he was truly a unique and interesting talent.

 

--Mike

[Good Old Neon]

From the NYT:

 

"James Wallace said that last year his son had begun suffering side effects from the drugs and, at a doctor

[quarter23cd]

Aw, man, these last few days have just been one bummer after another. I hadn't heard about this until now. Hats off to you, Mr. Wallace. Maybe someday I'll make it all the way through Infinite Jest, but even when my endurance for 50,000 page novels sags, I've always been a fan. He was a bright guy in a world that could use a few more of those, not fewer. I liked that commencement speech that was posted. Damn, he will be missed.

[NightOfJoy]

I found out this morning.....mind boggling.

 

RIP DFW, I hope yer in a more peaceful place now.

[EL the Famous]

Damn. Vibes to jnick and anyone else who digs this guy.

 

Oh man. Absolutely. Losing a personal hero/inspiration is never an easy thing. My sincere condolences.

[MattZ]

Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address - May 21, 2005

 

Holy crap that was good. I suppose now is as good of a time as any to start reading some more of his work. Do I start with Infinite Jest?

 

I have a feeling I have been missing much...

[jracette]

Holy crap that was good. I suppose now is as good of a time as any to start reading some more of his work. Do I start with Infinite Jest?

 

I have a feeling I have been missing much...

 

I too am a big DFW fan saddened by his loss. Infinite Jest is awesome, but daunting. I might humbly suggest his book of nonfiction essays "Consider the Lobster" as a good entry point into his writing and thinking style. The breadth of topics is wide (the uncut, original article on John McCain's 2000 campaign, the title essay, an article about Tracy Austin, one about attending the AVN Awards, one on usage in the English language...) but the brilliance is uniform. I also loved his nonfiction book about infinity. I forgot which of the articles I've read in the aftermath of his death said it, but the truest thing I've read is that he was a genius who was also a writer, rather than a writer who was a genius. His intellectual curiosity and mastery of so many things (and deep passion for so many disparate topics) is what really astounds me about him. My condolences to his wife, family, and anyone whose lives he's touched - this is a great loss for American culture.

[Good Old Neon]

McSweeney

[mpolak21]

KCRW is doing a special tribute to him today, his interviews with Michael Sliverblatt on their website's archive are all wonderful. I added Broom of the System, which I haven't read yet to my library holds list.

 

--Mike

[uncool2pillow]

I hope fans aren't offended by this. I haven't read the article yet, but the headline was way too funny to not post:

 

NASCAR Cancels Remainder of Season After David Foster Wallace's Death