David Foster Wallace
February 21, 1962 - September 12, 2008
David Foster Wallace died Friday night. The literary world has lost a brilliant, respected talent; I have lost an idol. (Update, 9.15.08: New York Times book critic Michiko Kukatani penned a lovely tribute here. Salon.com also has a remembrance posted.)
This man loved the dictionary as much as I. Words were his sustenance. Footnotes (or his excessive though creative use thereof) will be his legacy.
He will be missed.
What is surprising is his exit strategy. He alluded to suicide in a 2005 speech at a college by saying:
"It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in the head. They shoot the terrible master. And the truth is that most of these suicides are actually dead long before they pull the trigger. "
We all have our demons, our dark moments of war waged against self-loathing and self-destructive behavior. How sad that this talented soul chose to stop fighting.
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