The Howling Fantods

David Foster Wallace News and Resources Since March 97

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Quick Update

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates, busy week (end of term and all).
 
Infinite Summer:
 
Infinite Summer is going strong and being mentioned all over the web. It's great to see such a great book recognised. The best bit is that I have lost track of the number of comments from first time readers along the lines of, "It's great", "Not too hard", "Challenging and rewarding", "Better than I expected"... etc etc. As I'd hoped, I'm reliving my first read through others.
 
I mentioned it last week, and the Infinite Zombies blog is living up to my expectations. Thanks to all over there!
 
Oblivion Group Read:
 
If you've just read IJ and keen for something else... Wallace-l  are one week into a group read of DFW's short story collection Oblivion (my fave of all the collections). It's been great so far.
 
David Lipsky's DFW Biography has been bought. It is titled “Although of Course You End up Becoming Yourself”:
 
Congratulations, David! I am so happy we'll be able to read it.
 
Federer on Wallace:
 
Q. There were times during your match today when I was reminded of an essay by the late American author, David Foster Wallace. It's called, Roger Federer as Religious Experience. I'm wondering if you have heard of this essay, read it, or what you think of it?
ROGER FEDERER: Sure, I remember his piece. I remember doing the interview here on the grounds up on the grass. I had a funny feeling walking out of the interview. I wasn't sure what was going to come out of it, because I didn't know exactly what direction he was going to go.
The piece was obviously fantastic. You know, yeah, it's completely different to what I've read in the past about me anyway.
 

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 July 2009 06:14
 

And So It Begins!

(Well... tomorrow US time)
 
Good luck to all the fantods readers joining the IJ mega-read, Infinite Summer. (Thanks for the links too!) I don't think there's much of an excuse to make for not reading it now... I'll be following along too, I think mostly to experience that first read through all the first time readers.
 
Some cool resources/links posted around the traps for the read:
 
The Infinite Zombies are going to blog the read (which fits in with my plan of reading about reading IJ)
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Two DFW Biographies on the Horizon

Interesting article over at the New York Observer about two DFW biographies in the works, Dueling Foster Wallace: Two Bios Hit Market, One Sold. One from D. T. Max (The Unfinished) and the other by David Lipsky (The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace ).
 
Interestingly, the D. T. Max one has been sold and the Lipsky one has not. Personally I'm in great anticipation of both of them, but I am surprised Lipsky's has not yet been sold. Particularly when considering the quality, depth, and empathy of his Rolling Stone piece linked above.
 
I hope they both get published, there's no doubt D. T. Max and Lipsky will present very different perspectives.
 
 
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Last Updated on Sunday, 27 December 2009 08:31
 

Oregon Voice DFW Interview

The Oregon Voice 20th Anniversary Issue is now out and available as a pdf (17mb). It is an interview issue and includes a 1998 DFW interview on page 14.
 
The Mary Gaitskill thing... I'm pretty sure that is in reference to something I posted on the Fantods in the early days (it was about a forthcoming collection of writing I think).  This interview brings back the shame of writing first and checking facts later. The quote in this interview about the Gaitskill thing is also one of the reasons I never wrote to DFW. I still remember reading DFW's answer all those years ago and feeling the horror wash over me... sigh.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 13 June 2009 23:18
 

Why Read Infinite Jest?

If you need any more convincing check out Matt Bucher's fantastic essay Why Read Infinite Jest? over at the Infinite Summer blog. (Hi, Matt. Great stuff!)
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Sonora Review Delivered

My copy of the Sonora Review double issue 55/56 with the DFW tribute section arrived today (handed to me at my door on a Saturday morning, somewhat of a surprise!). So if there are any other Australians who ordered a copy... expect it soon.
 
It is a beautifully produced issue, and I've only just started to dig into the DFW section. The highlight so far is Greg Carlisle's (author of Elegant Complexity, and back in stock over at Amazon) essay Wallace's Infinite Fiction. A seriously amazing analysis of DFW's fiction with a focus on Infinite Jest 'as analogous to mathematical functions whose limits involve infinity.' Greg has done it again, this is yet another important contribution to the body of IJ criticism and is pivotal when considering the narrative structure of the novel. If you are at all interested in the complexities of IJ this is one not to miss.
 
I haven't even got to the uncollected DFW short Solomon Silverfish yet. I have not read it for a number of years, and I'm saving it for when I can read it in a sitting without disruption.
 
A big hello and thanks to Michael Sheehan for putting it all together and for the humbling shout out in his introduction.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 13 June 2009 21:45
 

Passing Shots: Requiem for a Writer

Passing Shots blog has posted a great piece about DFW, Requiem for a Writer: Roger Rides Again in the Ultimate Federer Moment.
 
Federer's recent French Open success (finally!) has resulted in numerous mentions of DFW's wonderful Federer essay across the web in the past few days and the Passing Shots piece is the best of the bunch as it is more extensive, and more personal, than the rest.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 13 September 2009 20:03
 
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