Remembering David Foster Wallace

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August 07, 2015

David Foster Wallace changed the landscape of American writing. His novels dissect our media-saturated culture in unflinching detail. And his essays are passed around to friends with the words, “You have to read this.” He became a literary rock star in his early thirties for his sprawling novel “Infinite Jest,” which introduced the world to his looping, verbose, cerebral style. Time Magazine later named it one of the “All Time 100 Greatest Novels.” When Wallace committed suicide in 2008, the Internet exploded with tributes and memories that might be surprised you if you weren’t paying attention to his career all along. And now, there’s a new Hollywood movie about David Foster Wallace, starring Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg.

Today, we celebrate the life and work of David Foster Wallace.

If you're having thoughts of suicide or are in emotional distress, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. 

David Foster Wallace
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His writing explodes with manic, high-octane verbal energy, and he wrote about everything under the sun. Verbal pyrotechnics aside,Salon book critic Laura Miller says David Foster Wallace was the most important writer of his time because he was obsessed with the question of how to live authentically in a media-saturated culture of hype. 

Tennis in the Sierpinski triangle
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The most famous thing David Foster Wallace wrote is "Infinite Jest," his huge, sprawling novel set in a dystopian near future. It’s a little eerie how well he predicted our world today.

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3:40
David Foster Wallace
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What turned David Foster Wallace into a cult icon?  He’s more famous today than when he committed suicide 7 years ago. Stephen Burn is editing Wallace's letters. He says there are two kinds of DFW fans.

David Foster Wallace in 2006
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David Lipsky is the journalist portrayed in “The End of the Tour,” a film about Lipsky's 5-day road trip with David Foster Wallace.  The two hit it off, sharing a wide-ranging conversation about fame, depression, pop culture and junk food. Speaking to Jim Fleming for "To The Best of Our Knowledge" in 2009, Lipsky remembers Wallace and traces the evolution of the depression that ultimately claimed his life.

David Foster Wallace
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Over the years, we did several interviews with Wallace himself. The last was in 2004, about his collection of short stories — "Oblivion." It’s an interview that’s been collected in two Wallace anthologies.

Length: 
11:34
David Foster Wallace
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TIME magazine's book critic calls David Foster Wallace a literary ventriloquist who captured the spoken speech of Americans more accurately, hilariously and lovingly than any other writer. 

Cruises suck
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David Foster Wallace's essays have their own unique cult following. There’s one, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” which is a hilarious diatribe about cruise ships, which convinced many of us we should never, ever go on a cruise.

Roadtrip
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Amy Wallace-Havens didn’t care whether David was famous, or even whether he was a writer. He was just her big brother. Anne spoke with her about a year after his death.
 

Length: 
9:18
water
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An excerpt from the commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005.

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August 07, 2015
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Last modified: 
August 02, 2024