Comments on: David Foster Wallace Dead

By: Sex Workers In Hollywood (Flix99.com)

Sex Workers In Hollywood (Flix99.com) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:28:55 +0000

[...] Writer/novelist David Foster Wallace has reportedly been found dead of an apparent suicide. In 1996, Wallace wrote this Premiere Magazine story about David Lynch, which is widely considered (at least, by me and my friends) to be the greatest set visit story of all time. Wallace’s collection of short stories Brief Interviews With Hideous Men is the basis of the forthcoming feature directorial debut from actor John Krasinski. Wallce was 46. More details here and here. [...]

By: Michael M. Noonan

Michael M. Noonan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:57:16 +0000

David Foster Wallace was a genius, the best mind of his generation, as A.O. Scott has written. Wallace I never met, but I will miss him terribly.,

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:14:57 +0000

Most writers, like this one, are completely unaffected by this event.
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&um=1&scoring=d&q=%22tao+lin%22+%22am+i+alone%22&btnG=Search+Blogs

By: Washington City Paper: City Desk - Who Broke the News of David Foster Wallace’s Death?

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:29:22 +0000

[...] news, in fact, first came from a book blogger, Edward Champion, who followed up on an anonymous tip. I make no grand statements about this [...]

By: Sarah Barmak

Sarah Barmak — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:16:51 +0000

Patrick: I’m unfamiliar with DFW’s work, and I’ve read a few passages now that have been posted here and there, but the one you posted above is the first that really took my breath away, and gave me an inkling of what we’ve lost. Thanks.

By: Leave the Lights On, David Foster Wallace « What Will Suffice

Leave the Lights On, David Foster Wallace « What Will Suffice — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:24:29 +0000

[...] you know, Foster Wallace hanged himself on Friday. Whenever I hear of this kind of death – by which I mean the by-your-own-hand death [...]

By: Chandler Hill

Chandler Hill — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:41:38 +0000

Perhaps you should have had the respect to make sure the family had been notified. Are there no manners at all on the internet?

By: mark

mark — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:25:56 +0000

that his quote ferocious powers of observation failed to find a hope that he could grasp…horrifying. fuck, DFW, why did you have to turn out to be human after all? your mind cleaved into mine and left it messy and bloody with beautiful visions and…you might say some dense bits of Truth that not even my concocted images of gruesome rope can corrode. rest in peace, brother. thanks to all for inspiring words. i’ve been a fucking mess all day. what a senseless and terrible loss.

By: Sloganeering.Org » Blog Archive » David Foster Wallace

Sloganeering.Org » Blog Archive » David Foster Wallace — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:16:14 +0000

[...] According to several websites, David Foster Wallace is dead of an apparent suicide. [...]

By: Patrick Stephenson

Patrick Stephenson — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:57:57 +0000

Thomas: The quote I posted is from “Good Old Neon,” from his short story collection “Oblivion.” The passage must lose something out of context, as I find it incredibly moving. Please read the whole story!

By: Quackenbush

Quackenbush — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:06:55 +0000

David Foster Wallace was my last living hero. I haven’t really cried over the death of someone i haven’t met since Kurt Cobain. This is hard to accept. My thoughts in full here: http://www.wetasphalt.com/?q=content/plainsong-encomium-another-dead-hero

By: David Foster Wallace, 1962-2008 « Mark Athitakis’ American Fiction Notes

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:51:07 +0000

[...] 14, 2008 · No Comments Edward Champion first delivered the sad news that David Foster Wallace hanged himself on Friday night. I have nothing to add, really, except to [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 08:53:06 +0000

Many bright lights are being snuffed out these days, sensitive and brilliant people who should have been shining stars in heaven, but who I fear were predicted in the Bible when it talks about those who are “ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.” I remember in my 20s being very, very close to falling prey to Wallace’s youthful kind of existentialist philosophy. I wish I could have talked to him since I’m one of the few who made it out of convoluted Hegelian mental peregrinations back to the simplicity of Christ’s death on the cross.

By: Silvia

Silvia — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 08:45:04 +0000

And now, who carries on? David, you were so outstanding.

By: karl

karl — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:44:02 +0000

What can you say about DFW? He inspired me to become a writer, changed the way I think about and perceived the world in many subtle but profound ways…and I know I’m not the only one. Poor bastard.

By: CJ

CJ — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:34:04 +0000

“dasd,” you’re a dick. disrespectful, pointless, and inappropriate.

if there’s one thing I loved most about DFW, beyond the doubling-me-over humor and brilliant verbal pyrotechnics, it was the deep humanity of his work. no matter how dark or dystopian or flashy or biting, his writing always had great heart.

By: Dave Pantos

Dave Pantos — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:15:10 +0000

I have been reflecting over the past few hours on this awful thing. DFW was and will be my favorite writer. Of course, one can’t avoid the “why” question. And, I hate to soil this with a reference to contemporary politics. However, DFW penned “Up, Simba,” a fairly generous portrait of John McCain, based on his assignment by Rolling Stone to cover the McCain campaign between his 2000 primary victory in NH and his ultimate defeat in SC. I am wondering if, on top of DFW’s own obvious depression, the absolute defenestration of McCain’s putative integrity over the past month or so, DFW saw himself as one of the many writers or thinkers that planted the seed of McCain’s integrity which has persisted as teflon to sustain his egregious presidential campain. Maybe Palin was the straw that broke the mental back of DFW. I don’t know. An initial response, a way to begin to understand. These are terrible times.

Dave

By: joe

joe — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:35:07 +0000

Wallace’s death came as an enormous shock – without going into (too much) detail, I read Infinite Jest at a time in my life where, like some sadly fucked up Ennet House resident, I was addicted to heroin and suicidal – and it may sound corny, but Wallace’s novel helped me identify with the pain of others, and, in no small way, eased me through an emotional minefield that ultimately led to sobriety. By his own admission, (and as evidenced by the themes explored in many of his writings) at an earlier time in his life, Wallace found himself in a similar situation, and, for a while, he led a successful campaign to silence his inner demons, but, as all too often occurs, it now appears as though it was a short-lived victory – and the world feels poorer for it.

Simply put – he was my hero and this hurts like ever-loving hell – I hope this horrible act helped you find that which you so desperately desired – peace.

By: Sean Gandert

Sean Gandert — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:27:23 +0000

I’m just shocked. The man really brought me into fiction and after writing my senior thesis on IJ there’s no author whose head I’ve spent more time in.

Especially after David finally succeeded in what he hoped for over a decade earlier with “Good People,” it’s a tragedy not to read what he had left in him.

By: Rake

Rake — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:57:50 +0000

Sweet holy christ, this is depressing.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:42:19 +0000

I think that the Charlie Rose interview from a few years back is really something that could be viewed as a deep insight into sort of an ethos of this man’s work.

By: Dead men write no tales. < patrick

Dead men write no tales. < patrick — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:25:20 +0000

[...] God damn it. Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed. Think of the old cliché about quote the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master. [...]

By: David Foster Wallace, R.I.P. « Good Readings

David Foster Wallace, R.I.P. « Good Readings — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:20:39 +0000

[...] by goodreadings on September 13, 2008 Edward Champion and the Los Angeles Times have reported that David Foster Wallace has committed suicide at the age [...]

By: Thomas

Thomas — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:15:13 +0000

I would apprecite hearing more about what DFW had to say through his novels, (in a condensed form. The lengthy quote above, is interesting, but not terribly moving. So self-analytical. Interesting, but was it a rallying cry to many to change their lives? The Dostoevsky reference is more insightful on what DFW wanted/tried to be as a writer. I can’t see that when I go back and read the first mentioned quote.
Regards from Japan

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:08:53 +0000

This one hurts.

By: PCM

PCM — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:04:14 +0000

Shocked! I had so many books in my head for David to write.

This is the end of the 80’s.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:01:56 +0000

God, he was so beautiful and amazing. I tried to read every word he ever put out there as soon as I could get my hands on it… he was my absolute favorite, no one comes close. This is awful.

By: Railbird

Railbird — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:59:11 +0000

David Foster Wallace, 1962-2008…

Reported by Edward Champion, confirmed by the LA Times: David Foster Wallace, the novelist, essayist and humorist best known for his 1996 tome “Infinite Jest,” was found dead last night at his home in Claremont, according to the Claremont Police Depa…

By: seth

seth — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:53:15 +0000

The man was prolific in Illinois. Wrote his best works. Was well-loved at Illinois State, where I spent seven years. He moved away in 2002-3. Nothing seemed the same. I have to wonder if the money and the pressure and the change in time zones had something to do with this. He was a gracious and funny and kind man. I met him a few times and found him charming. But he noticed and spoke of things that most of us need to ignore to keep going.

“American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. Some just prefer to do it in secret.”

Shit, man, what was the point of this?

By: Sam Pratt

Sam Pratt — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:28:52 +0000

“Dostoevsky wrote fiction about identity, moral value, death, will, sexual vs. spiritual love, greed, freedom, obsession, reason, faith, suicide. And he did it without ever reducing his characters to mouthpieces or his books to tracts. His concern was always what it is to be a human being—that is, how to be an actual *person*, someone whose life is informed by values and principles, instead of just an especially shrewd kind of self-preserving animal.” –D.F.W.