September 14, 2008

David Foster Wallace, RIP

So last night I ended up watching Gonzo (I'd give it a slight thumbs up) with some friends, after which one of them started talking about the topic of writers and artists and suicide. Kind of creepy to hear that last night and see this in today's paper. Obviously he wasn't to all tastes (our friend at Texas is definitely not a fan), and I'd say his work was uneven. But whose isn't? When he was on, he wrote some highly entertaining pieces. "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" remains one of my favorite stories.

Posted by armand at September 14, 2008 04:09 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Books


Comments

I was waiting outside a Thai restaurant for a friend last night and she was late. I pulled out my phone to find some reading material, and found this post. As much as I loved Wallace's work -- I think uneven is uncharitable; ecclectic, and thus rarely perfectly suited to any one person's taste is more my view -- somehow I didn't hear about this sooner.

Without fear of sounding unduly exaggerated, I have to say this floored me as much as any celebrity death yet. My friend arrived, an ex-girlfriend to whom I'd once, years ago, read bits and pieces of Wallace, and I told her without overstatement that this must have been what it felt like for people when Lennon died.

Of course, Lennon was far bigger to far more people, and there was a pretty heavy political component to the collective response, so don't imagine that I consider them even in the same universe of celebrity and influence. But while I was old enough to register that his death hit people -- my parents, among others -- very hard, it didn't hit me hard. Wallace going, on the other hand, hits me very hard. (And purely in artistic terms, I don't know that I think Wallace and Lennon are all that far apart, qualitatively, although such comparisons naturally are a fool's errand.)

I think it's the unexpectedness of it that irks me most, although it's arrogant to imagine I would have any reason to expect it. Still, Cobain goes, and it's sad but who's surprised? Ditto Hunter Thompson. But Wallace's stories, while sometimes sad and often dark, often were infused with a truly antic sensibility, a heightened sense of play -- with words, with characters, with really bizarre ideas -- and I never imagined him to be the tortured artist type.

And now I feel cheated of the 20 or so years of engaging, truly thought-provoking work I could justly have expected from a guy I've been loving to read since I was in college, and just learning how to read material so fraught and nuanced. One can hope that there was some relatively complete material knocking around with his editors, or in his desk, and that we have quality posthumous work to look forward to. But still, what a shame.

Posted by: moon at September 15, 2008 08:59 AM | PERMALINK

Yeah, artists who commit suicide are cheating their fans and admirers (I found it interesting that that was Hunter Thompson's ex's take on his death). Though of course who knows what he was going through.

I'd personally I'll stick with uneven - but since I think his high points were very high, that's not exactly an insult.

Posted by: Armand at September 15, 2008 10:21 AM | PERMALINK

Well, apparently his depression was lifelong and quite profound. Like I said, it was arrogant of me to conjecture. Sad sad sad.

Posted by: moon at September 15, 2008 10:39 AM | PERMALINK

Well, as (I'm pretty sure) the friend in Texas, it's about time I sign in. As much as I found some of Wallace's writing frustratingly ego driven, I agree with Armand that Wallace's high points were very high. "A Supposedly Fun Thing" pretty much is all I say when confronted with invitations for cruises. (Weirdly that is correctly plural. Have people never met me? Why would they even imagine I'd like to go on a cruise?) Anyway. Everything I've heard about him as a person celebrated his generosity to fellow writers--ones he knew and ones he never met. And that's pretty remarkable.

Posted by: Elizabeth at September 15, 2008 05:38 PM | PERMALINK

Sorry if I overstated your (sometimes) frustration with his writing E.

Posted by: Armand at September 15, 2008 09:45 PM | PERMALINK
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