I just found out that David Foster Wallace died a couple of months ago. Arguably, the best writer of our generation, I can't even imagine that there won't be another book by him. Ever.
Details here in the NY Times if you must rubberneck.
I walked around stunned for hours. I haven't really painted anything at all for days and just today I got back into the studio. That's not like me. I paint every day. Especially when I'm upset.
I've read Infinite Jest 3 times - I think that's sort of the idea with it, I mean the way the end goes back to the beginning and the beginning is the end - like 'the entertainment' in the book (James Incandenza's film was so deadly that people couldn't stop watching it and they just died sitting there in front of it - obviously a metaphor, sure but a good one). The book was like that for me. I just kept reading the damn thing for like a year or more. it's just the most incredible thing I've ever read.
I will argue to the death that the first dozen or so pages of Infinite Jest are the best dozen or so pages in all of modern literature. love, love, love this guy.
If you think that something like oh, say... One Hundred Years of Solitude was a very easy, enjoyable read... you should check out this book. True, it's dense but if you have patience and trust him - he will not let you down. Even during the endless Eschaton match... trust in the D... just do it.
He was a great, great writer. And he didn't need to write another thing. He's said all he needed to say.
Here's DF Dub's version of Journalism - just hilarious - could you call it Gonzo-esque? He would have liked that I think. They give him credit for coining the phrase 'Lynchian'. He was a huge David Lynch fan.
I especially love this clip because I was a baton twirler in high school and I've been to events like the one he's describing... he's not kidding, it's really THAT bad!
and, no... don't bother asking... I'll only pick up a baton when i'm really, really drunk. It's not a pretty sight...
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