David Foster Wallace Found Dead

CLAREMONT, Calif. — David Foster Wallace, the author best known for his 1996 novel "Infinite Jest," was found dead in his home, according to police. He was 46.

Wallace's wife found her husband had hanged himself when she returned home about 9:30 p.m. Friday, said Jackie Morales, a records clerk with the Claremont Police Department.

Wallace taught creative writing and English at nearby Pomona College.

"He cared deeply for his students and transformed the lives of many young people," said Dean Gary Kates. "It's a great loss to our teaching faculty."

Wallace's first novel, "The Broom of the System," gained national attention in 1987 for its ambition and offbeat humor. The New York Times said the 24-year-old author "attempts to give us a portrait, through a combination of Joycean word games, literary parody and zany picaresque adventure, of a contemporary America run amok."

Published in 1996, "Infinite Jest" cemented Wallace's reputation as a major American literary figure. The 1,000-plus-page tome, praised for its complexity and dark wit, topped many best-of lists. Time Magazine named "Infinite Jest" in its issue of the "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005."

Wallace received a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 1997.

In 2002, Wallace was hired to teach at Pomona in a tenured English Department position endowed by Roy E. Disney. Kates said when the school began searching for the ideal candidate, Wallace was the first person considered.

"The committee said, 'we need a person like David Foster Wallace.' They said that in the abstract," Kates said. "When he was approached and accepted, they were heads over heels. He was really the ideal person for the position."

Wallace's short fiction was published in Esquire, GQ, Harper's, The New Yorker and the Paris Review. Collections of his short stories were published as "Girl With Curious Hair" and "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men."

He wrote nonfiction for several publications, including an essay on the U.S. Open for Tennis magazine and a profile of the director David Lynch for Premiere.

Born in Ithaca, N.Y., Wallace attended Amherst College and the University of Arizona.

Comments

[bonitatortuga]

DFW weighed in on the 2008 election in this interview. It is very thoughtful, considering his work on the 2000 McCain campaign.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121218708445533979.html

[genia]

oh lord! sorry about the typos...wow..lol

[genia]

I hate to grub...I detest grubbing.
BUT.....I really want to read this.
Here's a link to "The Depressed Person". from Harpers.
You must be a memebr to view in full size...mebership is like 17.00
I'd rather take that money... give it to Obama.
Can anyone help me out with this?


http://www.harpers.org/archive/1998/01/0059425

[AlltheBuzzfromCali]

No matter how talented the writer, real life intrudes and deserves its due. His poor family. I wonder if they find it "ironic" that their boy-genius couldn't endure depression enough to stick around for them. He was probably on or off an antidepressant and not getting the proper medical care...still, at his age, you would think he could cope.

[cems]

All the Buzz,
How rude. Why would you choose now to snark about DFW and his family? "...their boy genius couldn't stick around...?" Unbelivably cold. I'm sure this is just the type of thing you'd like your family to endure when you go, right? Next time, consider the situation before you indulge the urge to write cute.
You also have a strange misunderstanding of what mental illness/depression actually is (if all people over a certain age could/should 'cope' with severe deperession we wouldn't have so many suicides...)

[sonshine]

That's horrible to say about a man who was probably suffering from a sickness. It's like saying, "that poor diabetic couldn't somehow overcome that disease". I hope and pray (i don't even really pray) that you have no one even within several degrees of separation in your life who suffers from mental illness. There are more out there than you think. In any group of 10 people there are probably four people suffering from mental illness.

Get educated then get empathetic.

[HobbyWizard]

A Supposedly Fun Thing He'll Never Do Again?

*dodges thrown copies of Infinite Jest*

[eclectablog]

I'm stunned by this. I just finished Infinite Jest earlier this year and it is the most amazing book of satire and societal commentary I've ever read. This loss will be felt by many. RIP, DFW...

[Hypomaniac]

Rest in Postmodernist Peace

[greendrake]

So sad and shocking. Wallace was a rare talent and I'm sorry we won't get to enjoy all the works he would have published had he lived.

Go in peace, David. Thank you.

[LGrace]

This was stunning news--unbelievable. It's indescribably sad. I found myself thinking, "actually, you know who would've had a shot at adequately describing something this sad?" and then I felt worse. My heart feels like a kettle bell, and I'm only a reader--I can only imagine what his family and friends are going through. My sincere condolences to those who personally knew and loved the man. I hope he has found the peace he wasn't able to find on this earth. Thank you for all you gave us during your short life, Mr. Wallace. Rest in peace.

[jwbell17]

Manners people!
Why would anyone go out of their way to make a negative comment —when you don't know anything about this man? He was a incredibly gifted and promising writer. Try a book that is not on a bestselling list once and a while.

[andyg]

Never heard of him, but anybody death is sad news.

[Fernando]

This is the third sad news about an untimely passing I've heard this week. Evan Tanner, who was for MMA what DFW was for the literary world (and only 37) seemed to have had a death wish and took an outrageously senseless trip into a desert. The third was a personal one, she was a year younger than DFW. May they all rest in peace.

[LASteve]

Sad....
Just sad...
I sincerely hope his family has a good support system to help them through this time.

[NoGenius]

Bummer dude.

[cljtcb]

David Foster Wallace's commencement address at Kenyon College on May 5th, 2005 is the single most perceptive, empathetic and thoughtful piece on the human condition that I have ever read. As I understand it, humans view reality and base opinions on reality from vastly different prisms and understandably many (most actually) do not view reality nor base opinions on reality in a way that David did. Doesn't make anyone a better or worse person than anyone else. Nor is it a bad or good thing it is just a- "thing". But for those whose prism is similar to David's, the Kenyon College piece offers hope and brings us just a that much closer to whatever it is we are seeking. For me it brings me closer in that the collection of ideas within that speech comes closer to explaining the meaning of life than anything I have previously been presented. And for that, I am grateful beyond words. For those whose prism is different from David's, I hope that you have found or will find soon your "Kenyon College Speech". David was right, "this is water". David, I hope you can finally daydream. You deserve it.