Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace

Works by Wallace

Throughout this book I quote liberally from David’s work. To avoid clutter, unless otherwise indicated in the chapter-by-chapter notes that follow, quotations are drawn from the following editions of David’s work.

FICTION

David Foster Wallace, “The Planet Trillaphon as It Stands in Relation to the Bad Thing,” Amherst Review, 1984.

——. “Solomon Silverfish,” Sonora Review, Fall 1987.

——. The Broom of the System (New York: Penguin, 1987).

——. Girl with Curious Hair (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989).

——. Infinite Jest (New York: Little, Brown, 1996).

——. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (New York: Little, Brown, 1999).

——. Oblivion: Stories (New York: Little, Brown, 2004).

——. The Pale King (New York: Little, Brown, 2011).

NONFICTION

——. “Fictional Futures and the Conspicuously Young,” Review of Contemporary Fiction, Spring 1988.

—— and Mark Costello, Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present (New York: Ecco Press, 1990).

——. “The Horror of Pretentiousness,” Washington Post, February 19, 1990.

——. “The Empty Plenum: David Markson’s ‘Wittgenstein’s Mistress,’” Review of Contemporary Fiction, Summer 1990.

——. “Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes,” Harper’s, December 1991.

——. “Rabbit Resurrected,” Harper’s, August 1992.

——. “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction,” Review of Contemporary Fiction, Summer 1993.

——. “Ticket to the Fair,” Harper’s, July 1994.

——. “Shipping Out: On the (Nearly Lethal) Comforts of a Luxury Cruise,” Harper’s, January 1996.

——. “Feodor’s Guide,” The Village Voice, April 9, 1996.

——. “John Updike, Champion Literary Phallocrat, Drops One,” New York Observer, October 13, 1997.

——. “Neither Adult nor Entertainment,” Premiere, September 1998.

——. “The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys, and the Shrub,” Rolling Stone, April 13, 2000.

——. “The View from Mrs. Thompson’s,” Rolling Stone, October 25, 2001.

——. “Tense Present: Democracy, English and the Wars over Usage,” Harper’s, April 2002.

——. Everything and More: A Compact History of ∞ (New York: W. W. Norton/Atlas Books, 2003).

——. “Consider the Lobster” in Consider the Lobster: Essays (New York: Little, Brown, 2005).

A NOTE ON SOURCES

Much of what I know about David came from my interviews with his many friends, family, and professional associates thanked in the acknowledgments section. A second source are his books and the third avenue are his extraordinary letters, loaned to or copied for me by dozens of correspondents. David may have been the last great letter writer in American literature (with the advent of email his correspondence grows terser, less ambitious). Happily several of these collections are now or about to be available at the Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin, where Wallace’s papers are housed and where scholars and researchers can consult them. In addition, much of Wallace’s juvenilia and marginalia from which I quote are now at The Ransom.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES, BY CHAPTER

Chapter 1: “Call Me Dave”

3 “My father’s got,” from David Lipsky, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself (New York: Broadway, 2010) at 49.

6 “This schizogenic,” from an interview with Larry McCaffery for the Review of Contemporary Fiction, Summer 1993.

7 “a really serious jock,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 52.

8 “imposter syndrome,” from a letter to Rich C., September 19, 2000.

Chapter 2: “The Real ‘Waller’”

18 “a way to hide,” from Stacey Schmeidel, “Brief Interview with a 5-Draft Man,” Amherst Magazine, Spring 1999.

23 “foppish aesthetes,” from the McCaffery interview.

24 “not trusting me with reality,” from a letter to Mary Karr, circa January 22, 1992.

25 “special sort of buzz,” from McCaffery interview.

25 “required thumbing-the-nose,” from an appearance on The Charlie Rose Show, March 27, 1997.

26 “Any relationship” and “The Sabrina Brothers in the Case of the Hung Hamster,” from Sabrina, Fall 1982.

28 “the smell of flowers” and “dealing with, yes,” from a letter to Corey Washington, June 30, 1983.

29 “practically rammed,” from a letter to Corey Washington, August 20, 1983.

30 “Pretty [as Updike’s prose was],” from the McCaffery interview.

30 “God damn Charlie,” from a letter to Corey Washington, July 1, 1983.

30 “Don’t do LSD,” from a letter to Corey Washington, August 5, 1983.

31 “It comes into your dreams,” from Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (New York: Harper Perennial, 1999) at 73.

31 “so much so that,” from a letter to Steven Moore, March 7, 1988.

32 “a kind of midlife crisis,” from the McCaffery interview.

32 “The same obsessive studying,” from the Schmeidel interview.

32 “a teenyweeny bit,” from a letter to Corey Washington, August 20, 1983.

33 “I came very close,” from a letter to Corey Washington, November 1, 1983.

34 “You now see before you,” from a letter to Corey Washington, October 4, 1983.

35 “a weird kind of forger,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 258.

37 Roses are Red, from a letter to Corey Washington, December 4, 1983.

38 “almost like having,” from an appearance on The Charlie Rose Show, March 27, 1997.

39 “A mite better than,” from Alan Lelchuk, Miriam in Her Forties (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1985), at 329.

40 “It’s really ulcer-city,” from a letter to William Kennick, February 4, 1985.

41 “It seems sort of cheaty,” from a letter to Corey Washington, July 15, 1983.

43 “Blob-like” and “out of control,” from a letter to William Kennick, February 4, 1985.

44 “I got to wondering,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 21, 1986.

44 “the loss of the whole external world,” from the McCaffery interview.

44 “The world is everything,” from Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophus (New York: Cosimo Classics, 2010) at § 1.

44 “This book will perhaps,” from Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, at 27.

45 “the sensitive tale,” from the McCaffery interview.

Chapter 3: “Westward”

50 “Instead of the ‘guru’ system,” from a letter by Mary Carter, February 12, 1985.

50 “I don’t have any money,” from a letter to John Leggett of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, April 9, 1985.

53 “a vast sprawl,” from Pynchon, Crying of Lot 49, at 14.

53, “A real blast,” “I’m not ready or able,” “a kind of urine-yellow,” and “Perhaps only

54 half true,” from a letter to Corey Washington, August 25, 1985.

54 “replete with poisonous spiders,” from a letter to William Kennick, undated, circa November 6, 1985.

54 “You use a propane torch,” from a letter to Corey Washington, August 25, 1985.

55 “trapping little inspirations,” from “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.”

55 “I love it here, Corey,” from a letter to Corey Washington, September 14, 1985.

57 “I was a prick,” from Loren Stein, “David Foster Wallace: In the Company of Creeps,” Publishers Weekly, May 3, 1999.

60 “rung his cherries,” from an interview with Laura Miller for Salon.com, March 9, 1996.

65 “I’ve been advised,” from a letter to Frederick Hill Associates, September 28, 1985.

66 “I defy you,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, November 7, 1985.

66 “I would have called myself Seymour Butts,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, circa February 2, 2001.

67 “as a newly hatched chick,” from Leon Neyfakh, “Gerry Howard on Discovering, Editing, and Hatching David Foster Wallace, New York Observer, September 17, 2008.

67 “not, of course, letting her know,” from a letter to Corey Washington, December 30, 1985.

68 “If this seems fast” and “neurotic and obsessive,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 21, 1986.

68 “This Carver/Apple joke” and “The more you condense,” from a letter by Gerry Howard, January 10, 1986.

69 “while potentially disgusting” and “a whole set of readers’ values,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 19–20 1986.

70 “You cheat yourself,” from a letter by Gerry Howard, January 10, 1986.

70 “made an enormous, haunting impression,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 19–20, 1986.

70 “I admit to a potentially irritating,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 16, 1986.

70 “geriatrics emerge,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 16, 1986.

70 “I am young and confused,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 19–20, 1986.

71 “It is a great joy,” from a letter by Gerry Howard, to Bonnie Nadell, January 13, 1986.

71 “Rick, Lenore, and the G.O.D.,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 16, 1986.

74 “two broken cars limping across the desert,” from Gale Walden, “Road Trip,” published in Wisconsin Review, 2010.

74 “the next three years at least,” from a letter to Corey Washington, September 14, 1985.

76 “Wallace does not,” from an essay in Wigwag, republished in Sven Birkerts, American Energies (New York: Random House, 1994).

77 “It’s hot, here,” from a letter to Corey Washington, July 13, 1986.

77 “copy-edit the copy-editor,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, April 29, 1986.

77 “Hoping Very Much I’ll Never,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, July 2, 1986.

77 “No autobiography, no cocaine,” from a letter by Gerry Howard to Don DeLillo, July 16, 1986.

77 “As wild elk produce many elkins” and “You must not,” from a letter by Richard Elman, February 20, 1986.

77 “I would be hard put,” from a letter by Richard Elman to Gerry Howard, December 19, 1986.

79 “going through both a lawsuit,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, March 28, 1987.

79, 80 “I got darned little work done” and “I leave at dawn,” from a letter to Corey Washington, September 6, 1986.

81 “a puerile Pynchon,” from Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 1986.

81 “The guy seemed downright angry,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 2, 1987.

81 “Maybe they never found out,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 30, 1987.

81 “a hot book…a terrific novel,” from Rudy Rucker, “From the Mixed-Up Files of Lenore Beadsman,” Washington Post, January 11, 1987.

81 “an enormous surprise,” from Caryn James, “Wittgenstein is Dead and Living in Ohio,” New York Times, March 1, 1987.

82 “rich reserves,” from Michiko Kakutani, “Life in Cleveland, 1990,” New York Times, December 27, 1986.

82 “I didn’t think,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 2, 1987.

82 “kind of down,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 2, 1987.

82 “Bonnie, I’ve never had more difficulty,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, March 28, 1987.

82 “You would think,” from Helen Dudar, “A Whiz Kid and His Wacky First Novel,” Wall Street Journal, April 24, 1987.

83 “Nice, in a condescending way,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, April 30, 1987.

83 “I’m so nervous about the reading,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, March 28, 1987.

83 “The reading went really well,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, April 6, 1987.

84 “I guess the engagement,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, April 14, 1987.

84 “Could you give,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, circa April 18, 1987.

84 “I’m not interested in fiction,” quoted in William R. Katovsky, “Hang ’Im High,” Arrival, April 1987.

85 “It was my first hint,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 170.

85 “w/r/t the fact,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, April 25, 1988.

87 “try…to fuck,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, April 6, 1987.

87 “I am working on a lot,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, February 15, 1986.

87 “I think they’re good,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, February 11, 1986.

87 “Not a nice noise, Bonnie,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 7, 1987.

87 “too smart for its own good,” from Alice Turner, quoted in a letter to Bonnie Nadell, April 30, 1987.

87 “Wallace clearly is,” from a letter by C. Michael Curtis to Bonnie Nadell, June 2, 1986.

88 “cruising…at a wildly” and “Maybe to Breadloaf,” from a letter to JT Jackson June 9, 1987.

Chapter 4: Into the Funhouse

89 “God I feel lucky,” from a letter to JT Jackson, June 9, 1987.

90 “It is…important to” from John Barth, “Lost in the Funhouse” in Lost in the Funhouse (Anchor, 1988) at 74.

90 “The diving would make” from Barth, “Lost in the Funhouse,” at 82.

91 “this tiny, infinitely dense thing,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 229.

95 “I’ve never been,” from a postcard to JT Jackson, August 6, 1987.

96 “Who’s Who in the Cosmos 1987,” Esquire, August 1987.

98 “like, a week,” from Patrick Arden, “David Foster Wallace Warms Up,” Book Magazine, 1999.

98 “I’m sure page for page,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 20, 1987.

98 “in my view far and away” and “If the story seems pretentious,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13–14, 1989.

99 “I actually cried in front,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 20, 1987.

99 “like a real person,” from a letter by Dale Peterson, August 7, 1987.

100 “less seedstrewn accommodations,” from a letter by Dale Peterson, July 27, 1987.

100 “Her little ticker didn’t,” from a letter by Dale Peterson, August 7, 1987.

100 “a horror show,” from the McCaffery interview.

100 “I wanted something,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13–14, 1989.

101 “a kind of suicide note,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 61.

101 “picked up a bit,” from a letter to JT Jackson, September 20, 1987.

101 “not really all that nice,” from a letter to Corey Washington, September 25, 1987.

101 “I’m squatting amid boxes,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 2, 1987.

101 “Please please get me,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 20, 1987.

103 “I’m basically on my own,” from a letter to Forrest Ashby, September 13, 1987.

103 “The view from my apartment,” from a letter to a freind, November 9, 1987.

104 “just so unbelievably bad,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 62.

104 “I’ve hurt not just me,” from a letter to a friend, November 9, 1987.

105 “gorgeous new poetesses,” from a letter to JT Jackson, September 20, 1987.

105 “I think I’ve again,” from a letter to Forrest Ashby, February 8, 1988.

105 “too hung over,” from a letter to Corey Washington, February 8, 1988.

106 “Much fiction,” from a letter by Alice Turner, April 29, 1988.

107 “p. 148 David,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, April 25, 1988.

109 “They didn’t even think,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 225.

109 “daunting…but that obviously,” from a letter to Steven Moore, October 26, 1987.

112 “I miss the heat,” from a letter to Corey Washington, May 17, 1988.

113 “I’m enclosing a small,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, September 5, 1988.

115 “I’m having a lot of trouble,” from a letter to Jonathan Galassi, June 21, 1988.

116 “remote,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 11, 1988.

116 “By now I expect maybe you’ve heard,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, October 23, 1988.

117 “They were unpleasant,” from a letter to Rich C., December 30, 1988.

117 “Isn’t it a marvelous feeling,” from a letter by Gerry Howard, December 21, 1988.

118 “far and away the worst,” from a letter to Rich C., December 30, 1988.

118 “I have only very recently,” from a letter to Steven Moore, January 18, 1989.

118 “Personally I love sending,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, February 9, 1989.

119 “I figure if I ever,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, March 7, 1989.

119 “95 % Portuguese and Brazilian,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 2, 1989.

120 “It’s lovely and crowded” and “I may well be,” from a letter to Steven Moore, April 17, 1989.

121 “the exact part of my nose,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 1, 1989.

123 “Boston is fun,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, May 26, 1989.

123 “fuck strangers,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 63.

123 “I’m bogged down,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 2, 1989.

124 “You’d be surprised,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, May 11, 1989.

125 “Alice has been marvelous,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, May 26, 1989.

125 “was not meant to carry,” from a letter to Steven Moore, August 18, 1989.

125 “Stay Fly, and Shit,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, July 5, 1989.

126 “The thing I like about,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 12, 1989.

126 “carve out two days,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 25, 1989.

126 “Fine prep. For the innumerable,” from a letter to Steven Moore, August 18, 1989.

127 “looking into celibatee,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 22, 1989.

127 “Thank God I don’t,” from a letter to Kathe Burkhart, August 1, 1989.

127 “You seem doomed,” from a letter to Kathe Burkhart, August 24, 1989.

127 “toddle off with my Get Smart,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, undated, circa summer 1989.

127 “intro german plus,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 12, 1989.

128 “short journalistic version,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 22, 1989.

128 “horribly long,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 22, 1989.

128 “This magazine is way,” from a letter by Alice Turner, July 5, 1989.

128 “confusion, misunderstanding, deception,” from a letter to Alice Turner, July 11, 1989.

128 “I must say,” from a letter by Alice Turner, July 17, 1989.

128 “too much impressed,” from Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 1989.

128 “a real brown helmet,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, July 3, 1989.

128 “a dynamic writer of extraordinary talent,” from Jenifer Levin, “Love Is a Federal Highway,” New York Times, November 5, 1989.

129 “What is the fiction writer,” from an essay in Wigwag, republished in Sven Birkerts, American Energies (New York: Random House, 1994).

129 “A lot of it is like being,” from a letter to Steven Moore, September 5, 1989.

130 “the best young writer going,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 1, 1989.

130 “simply separates sock from pod,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 2, 1989.

130 “more than a bubble,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 25, 1989.

130 “By merely abstracting,” from a letter by Jonathan Franzen, July 22, 1989.

131 “This Jonathan Franzen guy,” from a letter to Steven Moore, August 25, 1989.

131 “sentimental pretentious pseudo-autobiographical,” and “extensively explained dislike,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13/14, 1989.

132 “The book is not yet out,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, November 1, 1989.

132 “a kind of shrill,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 229.

132 “This book is dying,” inscription in book for Rich C., October 17, 1989.

133 “as though the entire,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 68.

134 “The lovely medical staff,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, October 30, 1989.

Chapter 5: “Please Don’t Give Up on Me”

135 “Armageddon,” from the McCaffery interview.

136 “hard-core recidivist” and “I am getting booted,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, November 28, 1989.

138 “every bad ’60s novel,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 233.

138 “Give me a little time,” from a letter to Steven Moore, January 3, 1990.

138 “I’m not going anywhere,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, December 18, 1989.

138 “I am” and “Most of the guys,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, December 21, 1989.

139 “a motorhead from the South Shore,” from a letter to David Markson, July 29, 1990.

139 “It’s a rough crowd,” “I try hard to listen,” and “I’m scared,” from a letter to Rich C., December 21, 1989.

140 “They gave me Librium,” from a letter to Rich C., August 24, 2000.

141 “nobody is as gregarious,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 138.

141 “going from Harvard to here,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, December 21, 1989.

142 “I think part of why WM” and “one a vapid gushy,” from a letter to Steven Moore, January 3, 1990.

143 “The bald fact,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 1, 1990.

144 “some laffs and companionship,” from a letter by Jonathan Franzen, May 5, 1990.

144 “a kind of a ripping” and “the humble, unpaid work,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 21, 1990.

145 “[f]iction for me is a conversation,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13–14, 1989.

145 “I’d love to hear more,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 21, 1990.

146 “so blank and depressed,” from a letter to David Markson, June 7, 1990.

146 “I cannot sit still,” from a letter to David Markson, July 29, 1990.

148 “a hip kids’ college,” from a letter to David Markson, October 18, 1990.

148 “Teaching is going OK,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 9, 1990.

148 “We spend most of our time,” from a letter to David Markson, October 18, 1990.

149 “rather like asking the Consul,” from a letter to David Markson, July 29, 1990.

149 “would be ‘sumptuous,’” from a letter to David Markson, October 18, 1990.

149 “They’re all ‘television’ majors,” from a letter to David Markson, January 6, 1991.

149 “I want to start trying,” from a letter to Steven Moore, November 20, 1990.

151 “I’ve gone from thinking,” from a letter to Steven Moore, October 26, 1990.

151 “I am the best copyeditor,” from a letter to Steven Moore, November 20, 1990.

151 “couldn’t even take,” from a letter to Steven Moore, December 14, 1990.

151 “every shred of will,” from a letter to David Markson, April 21, 1991.

152 “flat and strained,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, November 5, 1990.

152 “The people I’ve known there,” from a note to Jonathan Franzen, April 21, 1991.

152 “I think that eventually,” from a letter by Jonathan Franzen, July 22, 1991.

152 “I finally told Mary,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 7, 1991.

152 “Nothing is new,” from a letter to Fred Brooke, June 27, 1991.

153 “The apartment is strange,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, October 4, 1991.

153 “back to back in the afternoon,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, October 4, 1991.

154 “Please don’t give up on me,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, Spring 1991.

155 “slowly trying some fictional stuff,” from a letter to Forrest Ashby, August 8, 1991.

155 “writing quite a bit and enjoying it,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, August 23, 1991.

157 “mostly just to see what you think,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 19, 1990.

158 “decided that maybe being really sad,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 237.

158 “The key to ’92 is that MMK was most important,” from the marginalia in Wallace’s copy of Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection.

158 “The writing is going,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa spring 1992.

162 “the bravest thing,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 241.

162 “Life is good,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, February 29, 1992.

162 “a novel,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell and Gerry Howard, April 5, 1992.

163 “one of the scariest days,” from a letter to Deb Larson, December 6, 1993.

163 “this soot-fest city,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, February 29, 1992.

164 “best of pals and lit combatants,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 8, 1992.

164 “among the most nourishing for me,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, April 10, 1992.

164 “Syracuse,” from a letter to Debra Spark, May 27, 1992.

165 “make me feel both unalone and unstressed,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 8, 1992.

166 “If words are all we have,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, July 15, 1992.

166 “I simply have to pound,” and “it’s awfully pretty here,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 8, 1992.

167 “The Era of Skulking seems,” from a letter to Debra Spark, August 19, 1992.

167 “movies where shit blew up,” quoted in Evan Hughes, “Just Kids,” New York, October 9, 2011.

167 “I want you to know that I AM here,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa 1992.

169 “so much hidden pain and lying,” from a letter to Mary Karr, circa January 22, 1992.

169 “it heals too,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa spring 1992.

170 “terrible temper-outbursts,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 12, 1992.

170 “MARRY ME,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa fall 1992/winter 1993.

171 “gut instinct (I have so few gut instincts…),” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, June 22, 1992.

172 “a…go-for-the-gold-type,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, June 30, 1992.

172 “Brains and wit and technical tightrope-calisthenics,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, June 22, 1992.

173 “My notion about Mark Leyner,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, July 8, 1992.

173 “I am both bogged down,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 12, 1992.

173 “My whole nervous system,” from a letter to Alice Turner, December 11, 1995.

174 “I alert you in advance,” from a letter to Charlie Harris, December 26, 1992.

175 “Full-time writing is going OK,” from a letter to Debra Spark, undated, circa winter 1992/spring 1993.

176 “upping it to three or four,” from a letter to Charlie Harris, April 5, 1993.

176 “a certain icky sense about availing myself,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, March 14, 1993.

176 “the least weird writer there,” from a letter to Corey Washington, March 2, 1993.

176 “The chairman is a dreamboat,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, February 28, 1993.

Chapter 6: “Unalone and Unstressed”

177 “different masculine-model cars,” from a letter to Corey Washington, March 2, 1993.

178 “sardonic worldview perfect for the irony-filled nineties,” from a letter to Steven Moore, April 10, 1993.

178 “polite and banal”, from a letter to Corey Washington, April 16, 1993.

178 “Take this time to learn to be,” from a letter to Brandon Hobson, March 31, 1993.

178 “Even a marginal,” from a letter to Corey Washington, April 16, 1993.

180 to the “john,” from a letter to a friend, March 13, 1998.

180 “I’m having to countenance,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 12, 1992.

180 “Unpacking, trying to write,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, August 17, 1993.

181 “off sex,” from a letter to Linda Perla, October 15, 1993.

182 “You ask what I think it’s about,” and “Almost everything,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, June 10, 1993.

186 “here’s-what-I-think,” from “Finite Jest,” Slate, September 17, 2008.

189 “It’s just much easier having dogs,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 97.

191 “HOPE THIS IS READABLE,” from a letter to Sven Birkerts, November 14, 1993.

191 “80 % different from Little Brown’s,” from a letter to Steven Moore, January 25, 1994.

191 “The trick in a case like this,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, November 18, 1993.

191 “no longer manufactured outside like Eastern Europe” and “A lot of this,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, January 16, 1994.

194 “I’m mortified to have essentially,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, April 2, 1994.

195 “extremely analgesic,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, April 29, 1994.

196 “handcuffed to a wrist,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, May 27, 1994.

196 “I am sad and empty” and “stuff in the mss,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, July 23, 1994.

198 “ominous hernia-jokes,” from a postcard to Jonathan Franzen, circa July 1994.

198 “having this monster in my head,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, October 21, 1994.

199 “Hal’s breakdown, the one,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, November 30, 1994.

199 “I guess maybe” and “frontispiece,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, February 19, 1995.

199 “we know exactly,” from a response to a letter by Michael Pietsch, circa May 1995.

200 “it’s not,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, May 12, 1995.

200 “I bought a house,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, May 1995.

202 “Prospects for an acute and fecund,” from a postcard to Jonathan Franzen, circa March 1995.

203 “I go through a loop,” from a letter to Elizabeth Wurtzel, circa April 1995.

205 “I am uncomfortable,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, circa May 1995.

205 “you feel incipient bladder,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, circa May 1995.

205 “a state of editorial ecstasy,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, May 12, 1995.

205 “Here’s what happened,” and “I’m prepared to thumbwrestle,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, May 22, 1995.

206 “Potential insertion into page 1229,” from a fax to Michael Pietsch, June 11, 1995.

208 “a cover that’s (troublingly, to me),” from a letter to Don DeLillo, September 10, 1995.

208 that all the magazine editors in New York, from the Schmeidel interview.

208 “a little stupider and shmuckier,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 41.

209 “your/our copyeditor,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, February 19, 1995.

210 “To copyeditor: Hi,” from a letter to Mike Mattil, undated, circa fall 1995.

210 “in the 8th circle of page-proof-proofreading hell,” from a letter to Debra Spark, October 1995.

210 “The more I proof these page proofs,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, October 1995.

210 “about 47,000 typos,” from a letter to Alice Turner, December 11, 1995.

210 “about 712,000,” from R. Z. Sheppard, “712,000 Typos!” Time, February 19, 1996.

211 “wobbling like a vestibulitiser’s,” from a letter to Mike Mattil, October 8, 1995.

211 “wholly ominous given our family’s,” from a letter to Alice Turner, December 11, 1995.

211 “fucking, fucking nightmare,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 248.

211 “‘Masterpiece’? I’m 33 years old,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, September 20, 1995.

212 “About the holes and lacunae,” from a letter to David Markson, November 28, 1995.

216 “brilliant but somewhat bloated,” from Publishers Weekly, January 29, 1996.

216 “almost certainly the biggest and boldest,” from Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 1996.

216 “mov[ed] toward us like an ocean disturbance,” from Sven Birkerts, “The Alchemist’s Retort,” The Atlantic, February 1996.

216 “not for the faint-hearted,” from Library Journal, January 1996.

216 “Challenging and provocative,” from John Harper, “A Wordy, Wacky World View,” Orlando Sentinel, March 17, 1996.

216 “brashly funny and genuinely moving,” from Bruce Allen, “Future Imperfect,” Chicago Tribune, March 24, 1996.

216 “the funniest writer of his generation,” from Jonathan Dee, “Infinite Fest,” The Village Voice, March 1996.

216 “Next year’s book awards,” from Walter Kirn, “Long Hot Novel,” New York, February 12, 1996.

216 “that sneery thing in Esquire,” from a letter to David Markson, November 28, 1995.

216 “Hype of the Huge,” from Will Blythe, Esquire, December 1995.

216 “I’m very happy with the launch,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch to Bonnie Nadell, January 23, 1996.

217 “The overall effect,” from Jay McInerney, “Infinite Jest,” New York Times Book Review, March 3, 1996.

217 “The book seems to have been written,” from Michiko Kakutani, “A Country Dying of Laughter. In 1,079 Pages,” New York Times, February 3, 1996.

218 “To say that,” from Birkerts, “The Alchemist’s Retort.”

218 “This is sort of what it’s like to be alive,” quoted in Mark Caro, “The Next Big Thing,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1996.

219 “Sauron’s great red eye,” from a postcard to Don DeLillo, August 21, 2001.

219 “a whole wall of letters that help me or are important,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, March 16, [1996].

219 “I went with friends,” from David Gates, “Levity’s Rainbow,” Newsweek, February 12, 1996.

220 “They pretend they’re kissing you,” from Frank Bruni, “The Grunge American Novel,” New York Times Magazine, March 24, 1996.

220 “or the Illinois version,” from Valerie Stivers, “The Jester Holds Court,” stim.com, May 1996.

221 “there’s a way that it seems to me,” from an appearance on The Charlie Rose Show, March 27, 1997.

221 “When I was younger,” from the Scocca interview.

222 “not a hip downtown kind of book,” from a letter by Bonnie Nadell to Beth Davey, November 3, 1995.

222 “I think I made it a project not to look,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 178.

223 “packed and scary,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, circa March 16, 1996.

224 “you guys made your bones,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, circa March 16, 1996.

224 “brain fart,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 98.

224 “a serious asshole,” reading “‘I’ve Cheated,’” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 99.

225 “It reminds me of the exhilaration,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, April 18, 1996.

225 I…tried my best to tell the truth,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, circa March 16, 1996.

226 “WAY MORE FUSS,” from a letter to JT Jackson, circa April 1996.

Chapter 7: “Roars and Hisses”

227 “weird warm full,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 283.

227 “lumber salesm[e]n and Xerox,” from a letter to Alice Turner, December 11, 1995.

227 “The Icky Brothers,” from a letter to a friend, December 28, 1997.

227 “horses in the yard,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, March 16, 1996.

227 “Mostly I try to remember,” from a letter to David Markson, June 24, 1996.

227, 228 “spasms-trips” and “the lump,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, April 10, 1996.

228 “make extra room,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, June 25, 1997.

228 “basically an enormous,” from an appearance on The Charlie Rose Show, March 27, 1997.

228 “passionate and deeply serious,” from Brigitte Frase, “A Writer Flails His Way Toward Honesty,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 9, 1997.

228 “eager to notate,” from James Wood, review of “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” Newsday, 1989.

229 “reveals Mr. Wallace,” from Laura Miller, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” New York Times, March 16, 1997.

229 “Here’s why I’m embarrassed,” from an interview with Charlie Rose, March 27, 1997.

230 “I mean, can you see,” from a letter to a friend, June 27, 1998.

230 “blissfully ignorant of,” from a letter to Alice Turner, December 11, 1995.

231 “I find myself,” from an interview with Charlie Rose, March 27, 1997.

232 “literally crazy,” from a letter to a friend, December 28, 1997.

232 “fetish for conquering,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, February 19, 1995.

232 “I’ve wanted a black room,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, November 24, 1996.

233 “Real isn’t how,” from Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit (Doubleday, 1958) at 5.

233 “serial high-romance,” from a letter to Rich C., August 24, 2000.

233 “and come close,” from a letter to a friend, December 28, 1997.

234 “tuggy stuff” and “the people selling,” from a letter to a friend, December 3, 1997.

234 “This living hand,” from “This living hand, now warm and capable,” John Keats, Selected Poems (Penguin Classics, 2007) at 237.

235 “writing is going,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, September 7, 1996.

235 “weird little 1-pagers,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, November 11, 1996.

235 “the spiritual emptiness,” from the Stein interview.

235 “jejune,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, September 10, 1995.

236 “The novel is a fucking killer,” quoted in a letter to Don DeLillo, September 19, 1995.

236 “Maybe what I want,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, October 10, 1995.

236 “All right, your first book,” from a letter by Don DeLillo, November 6, 1995.

237 “I’m gearing up,” from a note to Steven Moore, January 13, 1997.

238 “A weird lightning-bolt,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, September 11, 1996.

238 “which means I can take,” from a letter to Steven Moore, October 8, 1996.

238 “basically to have projected,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, May 20, 1997.

239 “nothing if not,” from a letter to Rich C., August 24, 2000.

239 “the blow-jobs the culture gives,” from a letter to David Markson, June 24, 1996.

239 “I am getting some writing,” from a letter to Steven Moore, September 16, 1997.

240 “the version of myself,” “a mask,” “obliterated or something,” “slightest mistake or miscue,” and “the date of the erection/unveiling,” from a letter to a friend, December 3, 1997.

240 “I think I’m very honest,” from a letter to Elizabeth Wurtzel, April 1, 1995.

242 “15 minutes are over,” from a letter to Steven Moore, October 8, 1996.

243 “paw at the reader’s ear,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, January 19, 1997.

244 “It makes me,” from a letter to Alex Pugsley, May 15, 1998.

244 “Writing about real-life,” from a letter to a friend, January 17, 1998.

245 “three days in Bosch’s hell-panel,” from a postcard to Don DeLillo, January 30, 1998.

245 “I don’t think,” from a postcard to Jonathan Franzen, January 10, 1998.

245 “particularly dark,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, August 17, 1998.

245 “late 90s notoriety,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 29, 1998.

246 “Do I,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 29, 1998.

247 “a parody (a feminist parody),” from a note to Andrew Parker, April 20, 1998.

247 “I see that Hal,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, February 6, 1997.

248 “I feel pretty good,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, August 17, 1998.

248 “not about the thing,” from a letter to a friend, February 22, 1998.

249 “post-partum funk,” from a letter to a friend, October 25, 1998.

249 “I’ve been going,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, April 4, 1998.

249 “We snorkeled,” from a postcard to Jonathan Franzen, November 4, 1998.

250 “Issues of usage,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, November 25, 1998.

250 “It is a sad Christmas,” from a card to Don DeLillo, December 1998.

251 “I always get the giggles,” from a letter to Rich C., August 24, 2000.

251 “I too have used,” from a note to Lee Freeman, Fall 1998.

252 “She was a girl,” from J. D. Salinger, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” in Nine Stories (Little, Brown, 1953) at 3.

253 “a collection of,” from “Overlooked,” Salon, April 12, 1999.

253 “mean to just about,” from an interview with Michael Silverblatt on KCRW, August 12, 1999.

253 “The big Attention eyeball,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, April 4, 1998.

253 “I’m in the midst of,” from a letter to Steven Moore, June 4, 1999.

253 “The Statue Talks!” from a letter to a friend, December 28, 1997.

253 “just want[ed] to,” from the Arden interview.

253 “I wanted to do,” from an interview with Michael Silverblatt on KCRW, August 12, 1999.

254 “full-scale harassment,” from Benjamin Weissman, “A Sleek and Brilliant Monster,” LA Weekly, April 28, 1999.

254 “seemingly inexhaustible bag,” from Andrei Cordescu, “Literary Cure,” Chicago Tribune, May 23, 1999.

254 “another mad scientist,” from Adam Goodheart, “Please Phrase Your Answer in the Form of a Question,” New York Times, June 20, 1999.

254 “No doubt these,” from Michiko Kakutani, “Calling Them Misogynists Would Be Too Kind,” New York Times, June 1, 1999.

254 “The NY Times just,” from a letter to Steven Moore, June 4, 1999.

255 “meta-ironic” and “Does Wallace’s work,” from A. O. Scott, “The Panic of Influence,” New York Review of Books, February 20, 2000.

255 “The difference,” from Seth Stevenson, “David Foster Wallace’s Hideous Men,” Slate, June 3, 1999.

257 “We fill pre-existing forms,” from Frank Bidart, “Borges and I,” in Desire: Poems (FSG, 1999) at 9.

257 “weird cultish Sikh,” from a letter to Rich C., August 24, 2000.

258 “a long march,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, November 3, 1999.

258 “visually raw,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, March 21, 2000.

258–59 “Almost everything I,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, circa summer 2000.

259 “I’m scared I can’t,” from a letter to Rich C., September 19, 2000.

260 “the brief weird excitement,” from the optional foreword to “Up Simba,” in Consider the Lobster (Little, Brown: 2005) at 159.

260 “three months that tickled” and “I do not know,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, March 21, 2000.

261 “I know [enough],” from a letter to Jesse Cohen, June 29, 2000.

261 “on the side” and “Did you know,” from a fax to Jesse Cohen, August 4, 2000.

261 “Cantor and the sheer,” from a fax by Jesse Cohen, August 7, 2000.

262 “Most of my own,” from a letter to David Markson, November 3, 2000.

262 “did a pretty good,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, April 26, 2001.

262 “Highlights” and “gearing up for” from a postcard to Don DeLillo, August 20, 2001.

263, 264 “It’s been a couple,” “two periods,” and “I apologize in advance,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, October 13, 2001.

264 “There’s the whole,” from an interview with Laura Miller, in Salon.com, March 9, 1996.

264, 265 “A genre is hardening” and “vitality at all costs,” from James Wood, “Human, All Too Inhuman,” The New Republic, August 30, 2001.

265 “the traditional galleys-and-proofs,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, April 28, 2000.

265 “I struggle a great deal,” from a letter to Rich C., August 24, 2000.

267 “The students actually,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, March 2, 2001.

267 “home,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, April 31, 2001.

Chapter 8: The Pale King

268 “What kind of zip code,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, July 3, 2002.

268 “yellow snow,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, March 21, 2003.

269 “closest thing to a child,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, December 1, 2002.

270 “much less touristy or vulgar” and “pretty much hopelessly in love,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, January 6, 2003.

270 “land of 1600 SAT scores,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, April 30, 2001.

270 “We’re hiring you,” from Paul Brownfield, Literary Star Out of Limelight, Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2003.

270 “I have a lottery-prize-type gig,” from an interview with Dave Eggers, The Believer, November 2003.

272 “own eccentric researching,” from an email to Bonnie Nadell, April 4, 2003.

272 “enormous, pungent and extremely well-marketed,” from “Consider the Lobster,” Gourmet, August 2004.

273 “My audit group’s,” from The Pale King (New York: Little, Brown, 2011) at 387.

273 “I…did not think,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, circa November 2002.

274 “I’m doing a book about math!” from a postcard to Steven Moore, January 13, 2002.

274 “wretched math book,” from a postcard to Don DeLillo, July 3, 2002.

274 “both the math-editor,” from a postcard to Don DeLillo, September 1, 2002.

274 “The galleys for,” from a postcard to Don DeLillo, June 4, 2003.

276 “refreshingly conversational style,” from John Allen Paulos, “Electrified Paté,” American Scholar, Winter 2004.

276 “One wonders exactly whom,” from David Papineau, “Room for One More,” New York Times, November 16, 2003.

276 “mathematicians will view it,” from Rudy Rucker, “Infinite Confusion,” Science, January 16, 2004.

276 “Dr. Ragde,” from a letter to Jesse Cohen, circa early 2004.

276 “the best of the stuff,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, October 13, 2001.

277 “unhappy, complicated, intellectualizing men,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, November 28, 2001.

277 “I don’t feel much like an editor here,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, October 3, 2003.

279 “only the tiniest tasting,” from Michiko Kakutani, “Life Distilled from Details, Infinite and Infinitesimal,” New York Times, June 1, 2004.

280 “forest-killing manuscript,” from Steve E. Alford, “Wordy Wallace Has New Stories,” Houston Chronicle, June 13, 2004.

280 “Wallace has the right,” Wyatt Mason, “Don’t like it? You don’t have to play,” London Review of Books, November 18, 2004.

281 “Karen is rehabbing,” and “It’s a dark time,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, July 16, 2005.

282 “No more nymphs,” from a postcard to Steven Moore, February 2, 2002.

282 “I hear Kath[y],” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, February 11, 2004.

282 “I am more and more,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, February 18, 2004.

283 “shitty motel,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, January 26, 2005.

283-84 “It’s just this” and “Basically — I empathize,” from a letter to Weston Cutter, un dated.

284 “I’m poised, ready,” from Brownfield, “Literary Star, Out of the Limelight.”

285 “You’re special,” from a letter to Evan Wright, October 17, 1999.

286 “I allow myself,” from a letter to Erica Neely, July 3, 2001.

288 “David Foster Wallace’s 1996 opus,” from Chad Harbach, “David Foster Wallace!” n+1, Issue 1, July 2004.

289 “I’m in awe,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, November 18, 2005.

289 “I too have,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, January 3, 2006.

289 “DeLillo’s thing about,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, January 29, 2006.

289 “I go back and forth,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, June 6, 2007.

290 “It’s…part-Rottweiler,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, September 26, 2006.

291 “It’s absolutely wonderful,” from a letter by Christopher Hamacher, March 7, 2006.

291 “Is it OK,” from a letter to Christopher Hamacher, February 22, 2006

291 “You’re not going,” from a letter by Christopher Hamacher, July 8, 2006.

291 “I find that although,” from a letter by Stephen Lacy to Wallace, September 5, 2005.

292 “Tax law is,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, April 22, 2007.

293 “Work is like,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, December 1, 2006.

292 “My own terror,” from an email to Deborah Treisman, January 12, 2007.

294 “revelations revelationize,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 16, 1986.

295 “Digital=abstract=sterile,” from a postcard to Don DeLillo, dated July 21, 2000.

295 “The individual parts,” from an email to Bonnie Nadell, April 23, 2007.

295 “I am, at present,” from the Eggers interview.

296 “forgetting about writing,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, April 16, 2007.

296 “What are envied,” from an unpublished interview with Didier Jacob. Le Nouvel Observateur, August 2005 (unpublished).

296 “to put some kind,” from an email to Bonnie Nadell, April 20, 2007.

296 “I could take a couple of years,” from an email to Bonnie Nadell, April 20, 2007.

297 “Let me noodle hard,” from an email to Bonnie Nadell, April 23, 2007.

297 “I feel a bit ‘peculiar’,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, August 4, 2007.

297 “disabling nausea/fatigue,” from an email to Jonathan Franzen, September 20, 2007.

298 “Upside: I’ve lost,” from an email to Bonnie Nadell, December 4, 2007.

298 “I got really,” from a letter to Tom Bissell, February 16, 2008.

299 “We’ll have big fun” and “I am not all right,” quoted in David Lipsky, “The Lost Years and Last Days of David Foster Wallace,” Rolling Stone, October 30, 2008.

NOTES

312 “None of the men,” quoted in Lance Olsen, “Termite Art, or Wallace’s Wittgenstein,” Review of Contemporary Fiction, Summer 1993.

313 “passionately interested,” from a letter to Richard Elman, circa September 23, 1985.

313 “there is nothing outside the text,” from Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology, trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997) at 163.

314 “only me and Mom,” from a letter to Corey Washington, January 14, 1986.

314 “…so that word,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, October 31, 1985.

314 “I’m sure I may,” from Leon Neyfakh, “Gerry Howard, on Discovering, Editing, and Hatching David Foster Wallace: ‘He Was the First Person Who Ever Called Me “Mister,”’” New York Observer, September 17, 2008.

314 “I’m an exhibitionist,” from an unedited transcript of the McCaffery interview.

314 “I’ll shine your shoes,” from a letter to Richard Elman, May 1, 1986.

315 “The best thing,” from a response to Marshall Boswell’s questionnaire, May 18, 2002.

315 “sort of an artistic,” from David Lipsky, Although of Course, at 61.

315 “sort of a joyless,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 142.

315 “A certain Uncle,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, January 1, 1987.

315 “turns the mouth,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 2, 1989.

315 “not working under,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 1, 1990.

315 “Title imposed by editor,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, March 18, 1988.

315 “a seventeen-page,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 34.

316 “a lot of hooha,” from a letter to Christopher Hager, October 28, 1995.

316 “going to get dwarfed,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, March 7, 1989.

316 “too Pynchonian,” from a letter to Steven Moore, March 7, 1988.

316 “My nose could use,” from a letter to Steven Moore, March 7, 1988.

316 “grows erect, and comes,” from Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow (New York: Penguin, 1995) at 20.

316 “some real personal,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13/14, 1989.

317 “I mean, I got very assertive,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 138.

317 “The mere falling,” from Paul de Man, Blindness and Insight: Essays in the Rhetoric of Contemporary Criticism, 2d ed. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983) at 187.

317 “Seek out the artists,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 21, 1990.

317 “absence of emotion” and “lack of clarity,” from Mary Karr, “Against Decoration,” Parnassus, Spring 1991.

318 “It doesn’t work like that,” from a response to Marshall Boswell’s questionnaire, May 18, 2002.

318 “crazy and reject me,” from a letter to Deb Larson, December 6, 1993.

319 “think[ing] out loud,” from a letter to Sven Birkerts, November 14, 1993.

320 “The thing is,” from the Scocca interview.

320 “You didn’t get sober,” from a letter to Evan Wright, October 17, 1999.

320 “I think he will fulfill,” from an interoffice memorandum by Jay Jennings to Donna Doherty of Tennis magazine, June 20, 1995.

321 “preserve an oralish,” from a fax to Joel Lovell of Harper’s, circa 1998.

321 “by at least 25 %,” from a letter to Chris Hager, October 28, 1995.

321 “The resolution that reviewers,” courtesy of Chris Hager.

321 “there is an ending,” from an interview with WORD e-zine, May 17, 1996.

321 “a recovering smart aleck,” from the Miller interview.

321 “I don’t think he would have hated it,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 231.

321 “Using skills… only Elizabeth has,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 5.

322 “A grad student lent me some tapes,” from a letter to Michael Schur, circa 1998.

322 “May the peace and blessing,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, circa July 1999.

323 “We sort of ‘cuddled and talked’ instead,” from a letter to Evan Wright, April 28, 1999.

324 “Huh? I’ve never been ‘promiscuous,’” from a postcard to Nick Solomon, March 27, 2006.

324 “I know her, may have been,” from a letter to Marie Mundaca dated January 27, 1998.

324 “I never gave Kenyon a transcript of it,” from a letter to Christopher Hamacher, February 22, 2006.

325, 326 “What’s tricky is just what you’re asking” and “We all knew and know,” from a letter to Becky Bradway, February 2007.