(Untitled)

[maddening]

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-wallace14-2008sep14,0,246155.story

"David Foster Wallace, the novelist, essayist and humorist best known for his 1996 novel "Infinite Jest," was found dead Friday night at his home in Claremont, according to the Claremont Police Department. He was 46

Comments

[skreidle]

My response: "Who?" *Google* "Infinite Jest? Never heard of it."

[maddening]

uhm... good for you?

I posted this because it makes me really sad that he did this.

[skreidle]

I just found it odd/interesting that I've seen mention of this several times on my Friends page, and while I have significant overlap in literary interests with many of them, I've never heard of Mr. Wallace or his seminal work.

[punkalicia]

I was so sad when I heard the news.

Although I feel like I'm cursed to never ever finish Infinite Jest. EVERY time I start reading it, I get about halfway through and then something happens and by the time I get back to it....I have to start over. And then I get all discouraged and don't try again for another few years.

[maddening]

That's actually pretty ironic given some of his themes in both that book and others.

It is a stupidly difficult read, especially given all the footnotes. Unless you're really into his extreme wordiness it's hard to get through. The Broom of the System is the one Ken(bad bad man) recommends to everyone as his favorite DFW book and it is *much* easier to absorb while still having all of his characteristic weirdness.