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

INDEX

Aaronson, Jaci, 65, 112, 113, 115, 116

Aberration of Starlight (Sorrentino), 56, 116

acne, 17, 20, 35–36

actors and actresses, 125, 224, 244, 245, 320n

addiction, addicts, 94, 101, 106, 113, 127, 135, 150–51, 156, 169, 218, 257, 258, 317n, 319n

Infinite Jest and, 161–62, 171, 182, 183, 214

stories of, 140–41

Wallace’s sponsoring of, 179–80

see also alcohol abuse programs; drugs, recreational; substance abuse recovery

advertising, 91, 94, 120, 123, 148, 259, 318n

African-Americans, 27, 39, 312n, 318n

Aiken, Conrad, 294

alarm systems, 163, 318n

alcohol abuse programs, 105, 106, 113–14, 123, 127, 133, 147, 315n, 316n

Amherst, 13–22, 24–28, 30–33, 35, 37–52, 55, 56, 67, 75, 90, 113, 119, 137–38, 159, 167, 174, 312n, 315n

graduation at, 50–51

humor magazine at, 26–27, 31

opening convocation at, 15

Stearns Hall at, 15–16, 18, 19, 20, 24, 311n

Valentine Dining Hall at, 18, 21, 26, 27, 32, 41, 45

Wallace’s apartment in, 101, 103–4

Wallace’s interview at, 14, 19

Wallace’s teaching at, 84, 88, 99–105, 148, 166

Wallace’s theses at, 39–48, 71

“the Womb” at, 30, 33, 72

Amherst Review, 35, 41

“Another Pioneer” (Wallace), 279

antidepressants, 32, 34, 35, 52, 53, 96, 114–17, 154, 251, 297, 298, 300

Arizona, 51, 145, 196, 272

see also Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona, University of, 50, 52, 55–65, 71–76, 83, 87, 88, 90, 91, 94, 102, 110, 159, 171, 174, 188, 192, 312n, 313n, 314n, 318n

Carter’s workshop at, 74–75, 76, 104

Wallace’s reading at, 105

Wallace’s status at, 96

Wallace’s teaching at, 79–80, 99, 105, 112, 115–16, 148, 176

Aronson, Heather, 57, 65, 73, 74, 112, 113, 116, 314n

Arrival, 84, 219

Ashby, Forrest, 57–58, 73, 101, 103–4, 105, 113, 116, 155, 196

Atlantic, 87, 216, 217

Atlas Books, 260–61

“Balloon, The” (Barthelme), 29–30

bandanas, 64–65, 103, 165, 168, 174, 179, 187, 221, 300

Bangs, Lester, 122, 141, 142, 316n

Barker, Clive, 143

Barth, John, 47, 89–92, 94, 109, 131, 156, 174, 312n, 315n

Barthelme, Donald, 29–30, 31, 47, 60, 90

Beautiful Crap, 296, 301

Being There (movie), 6

Believer, 270, 295

Bellow, Saul, 96, 178–79

Bennington Writers Conference, 96, 104

Berkeley, Bishop, 91, 314n

Bidart, Frank, 257

Big Craig (Granada House resident), 141, 145, 150, 167, 317n, 318n, 320n

Birkerts, Sven, 76, 129, 190–91, 216, 217, 319n

Bloomington, Ill., 173–81, 185, 187–90, 203, 207, 219, 220, 227, 230–34, 245, 250, 253, 267, 268, 269, 274, 286, 319n

Wallace’s houses in, 177, 183, 187, 200–201, 232–33, 237, 249, 250, 252, 282

Blue Velvet (movie), 85, 214

Bookworm (radio show), 253–54

Boston, Mass., 37–38, 119, 123, 131, 132, 143, 153, 158, 159, 174, 190, 234, 317n, 319n

Arlington Center for the Arts in, 190–91

locksmiths in, 318n

“sober house” in, 145–46, 153

Wallace’s hatred of, 163

Boston Phoenix, 221, 320n

Boswell, Marshall, 288, 315n, 318n, 324n

Boswell, Robert, 57, 65, 72, 313n

Bradshaw, John, 170

Bradway, Becky, 324n, 325n

brat pack writers, the, 60–61, 82, 110, 313n

see also Ellis, Bret Easton; McInerney, Jay

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (Wallace), 245–49, 253, 255, 264, 277, 316n, 324n

Bright Lights, Big City (McInerney), 60, 67, 96

Brighton, Mass., 136–47

Brooke, Fred, 20, 24

Brookens Junior High School, 7, 8

Broom of the System, The (Wallace), 50, 51, 61, 88, 101, 155, 203, 281, 312n, 315n, 316n, 318n–19n

editorial vision for, 315n

hint of other stories in, 63, 311n–12n

income from, 66–67, 82, 84, 315n

marriage and family therapy in, 29, 71

membrane theory in, 68–69

movie option for, 82

other Wallace works compared with, 59, 75, 86, 109, 110, 159, 183, 318n

parrot in, 46–47, 100

publication of, 65–71, 77–78, 81–82, 240, 312n, 314n

Pynchon and, 47, 48, 60, 66, 69, 70, 77, 80, 82, 312n

reviews and criticism of, 81–82, 120, 276

summary of, 44–48

title of, 47, 71

Wallace’s reading of, 83

Brothers Karamazov, The (Dostoevsky), 288

Buddhism, 181, 257, 291

bugs and insects, 6, 24

spiders, 54, 57, 165, 313n

tarantulas, 16, 116

Burgess, Anthony, 73

Burkhart, Kathe, 126, 127, 132

Bush, George W., 259, 295–96

California, 52–53, 88, 105, 266–71

Cambridge, Mass., 131, 144, 163, 229

see also Harvard University

Cantor, Georg, 260–61, 274–76

Caribbean cruise, 201–5, 245

cars, 33, 59, 103, 105, 122, 150, 157, 164, 170, 175, 177, 239, 268, 300

breakdowns of, 73–74, 119

racing of, 185

sleeping in, 24, 53

theft from, 98

Carter, Mary, 50, 55, 61, 87, 88, 266, 313n, 314n

forcing out of, 79

workshop of, 74–75, 76, 104

Carver, Raymond, 60, 68, 95–96, 166, 319n

“Catatonic Realism” (Ultraminimalism; Bad Carver), 110

Catcher in the Rye, The (Salinger), 288

Catholicism, 166, 251, 316n, 322n

Catholics (Moore), 164

Caudle, Sarah, 268, 269

Cavell, Stanley, 119, 132–33, 142

celebrity, 179, 203, 224

Champaign-Urbana, Ill., 1–14, 17, 51, 67, 73, 113, 145, 200, 286

movie theaters in, 6

Walden in, 189–90

Wallace’s returns to, 20, 22–23, 28–30, 33–34, 88, 89, 105–6, 112, 116, 154, 282–83

Chetkovich, Kathryn, 282

Chicago, Ill., 67, 73, 104, 181, 196, 252

Chicago Tribune, 216, 218, 254

children, 165, 232, 239, 248, 251, 282, 322n

“Church Not Made with Hands” (Wallace), 104

“Clang Birds, The” (Wallace), 23, 311n

Claremont, Calif., 266–71, 282–84, 297, 300, 301

Wallace’s houses in, 268, 282, 283

Clockwork Orange, A (Burgess), 73

Cobain, Kurt, 221, 322n

Cohen, Jesse, 260–61

“Compliance Branch, The” (Wallace), 292–93

computers, 146, 153, 158, 166, 167, 180, 191, 217–19, 232, 283, 287, 301, 319n

Conjunctions, 106, 117, 138, 175–76, 264, 315n

Conn, Charis, 222, 237, 242

Conroy, Frank, 83, 105–6

Coons, Chris, 21

Coover, Robert, 84, 130

Corrections, The (Franzen), 262, 264, 296

Costello, Mark, 19–28, 35, 49, 73, 78–79, 100, 103, 134, 163, 184, 201–2, 234–35, 312n, 315n, 318n, 322n

Granada House and, 139, 140

in Harvard Yard, 146

Karr and, 147, 317n

literary aspirations of, 123, 316n

McLean and, 135, 136

in New York, 173, 196, 222, 224, 227

in Syracuse, 164–65

Wallace compared with, 19, 39, 48

Wallace’s collaboration with, 123, 125, 150–51

Wallace’s correspondence with, 23, 50, 53, 59, 67, 252, 256, 280, 315n, 323n

Wallace’s relationship with, 27, 33, 39, 43

as Wallace’s roommate, 20–21, 27, 32, 54, 119–20, 127–28, 316n

Wallace’s work and, 123, 124, 125, 316n, 324n

Crane, Stephen, 153, 312n

criminal records, 138, 317n

cruises, 201–5, 221–22, 228, 245, 320n

Crying of Lot 49, The (Pynchon), 30, 31, 48, 53, 69, 70

Cutter, Weston, 283–84

Dalkey Archive Press, 151, 174, 177

DeLillo, Don, 47, 66, 77, 81, 149, 165, 214, 224, 234, 289, 312n, 319n, 324n

Wallace’s correspondence with, 176, 200, 205, 208, 219, 223–28, 235–38, 243, 245, 250, 258, 260, 262, 265, 268, 273, 274, 283, 295, 322n, 323n

De Man, Paul, 288, 313n, 317n

“Depressed Person, The” (Wallace), 241, 248, 269, 322n

depression, 25, 31–37, 202, 246, 265

drugs for, see antidepressants

in fiction, 34–37, 41, 161, 311n

suicidal, 22, 33, 35, 42, 154

of Wallace, see Wallace, David Foster, depression of

Derrida, Jacques, 38, 56, 57, 74, 288, 313n

Desai, Raj, 15–17, 19

Details, 208, 219

DeVries, Willem, 19, 41

Dickinson, Emily, 15, 152

dogs, 6, 8, 58, 64, 163, 231, 258, 296, 300

Bella, 290

Jeeves, 189, 191–92, 193, 207, 220, 227, 231, 233, 268, 269

The Drone, 207, 227, 231, 233, 249–52, 320n

Werner, 252, 268, 290, 299

Dostoevsky, Fyodor, 103, 141–42, 208–9, 214, 288, 296

Drama of the Gifted Child, The (Miller), 169–70

drugs, recreational, 10–11, 30–31, 202, 203, 249

acid (LSD), 11, 30, 133, 166

cocaine, 30, 85, 138, 222

in fiction, 47, 161–62, 175, 193

mushrooms, 30–31

Wallace’s use of, see Wallace, David Foster, recreational drug use of

see also marijuana

Eagleton, Thomas, 25

economics, 27, 28

Eggers, Dave, 264, 289, 290

Eich, Doug, 165–66

Eliot, T. S., 38, 58, 294

Ellis, Bret Easton, 60–61, 66, 73, 82, 110, 209

Elman, Richard, 56, 57, 60–61, 77–78, 165, 313n, 314n

Emerson College, 146, 148, 149, 151, 153, 154, 187

“Empty Plenum, The” (Wallace), 120–23, 126, 128

Eno, Brian, 31, 123

entertainment, 168–69, 183, 186, 193, 225, 240, 286

Esquire, 87, 96, 104, 208, 216

ethnicity, 213, 264, 321n

“E Unibus Pluram” (Wallace), 172, 174, 209, 254, 260, 322n

Everything and More (Wallace), 274–77

fashion spread, 97

“Fatalism” (Taylor), 40–41

Federer, Roger, 290, 296

“Fictional Futures and the Conspicuously Young” (Wallace), 109–12, 115, 135, 212, 316n, 324n

Flygare, John, 9, 14, 20

“Forever Overhead” (Wallace), 55, 57, 90, 313n

Foster, Fenton, 169, 197

Foster Street transitional facility (sober house), 145–46, 153

Fraden, Rena, 266–67, 269, 270

France, Wallace in, 262

Francis B. (recovery friend), 201, 230, 231–32, 258, 263, 268, 322n

Franzen, Jonathan, 148, 163–67, 176, 191, 201–2, 209, 225, 232, 252, 266, 273, 300, 316n, 323n, 324n

novels of, 115, 130, 262, 264, 296

in Syracuse, 164, 166

Wallace’s correspondence with, 98–99, 100, 116, 119, 124, 127, 129–31, 143–45, 148, 152, 153, 157–58, 164–67, 170, 173, 180, 196, 197, 198, 200, 202, 219, 223, 245, 250, 258–59, 281, 282, 289–92, 296, 297, 312n, 315n, 316n, 317n

future, the, 40–41, 59, 77, 190–91

Galassi, Jonathan, 115, 116

Gang Starr, 122–23

Garrett, George, 96

Gass, William, 74, 106, 119, 129

Girl with Curious Hair (Wallace), 106–9, 117–18, 120, 144, 174, 190, 207, 217, 236, 249, 316n, 321n

Karr’s views on, 148

publication of, 128–32, 171, 212

reviews of, 128–29, 132

“Girl with Curious Hair” (Wallace story), 73, 111, 112, 126, 131, 314n, 315n

God, 23, 140, 166, 215, 239, 251, 322n

Gödel, Kurt, 260, 261

“Good Old Neon” (Wallace), 255, 257, 277–78, 324n

“Good People” (Wallace), 292–93

Gourmet, 272–73

GQ, 297–98, 299

grammar, 2–3, 25, 77, 102, 187, 210, 230, 271, 318n

Granada House, 136–47, 150, 153, 156, 163, 167, 180, 208, 294, 318n

Infinite Jest and, 137, 141, 159, 206–7, 317n, 320n

Gravity’s Rainbow (Pynchon), 34, 67, 225, 316n

Great and Secret Show, The (Barker), 143

Green, Karen, 269–72, 279, 281–83, 286, 287, 290, 291, 295–301, 324n

marriage to Wallace, 282–83

Green, Stirling, 270, 272–73, 282, 300

grunge, Grunge Fiction, 223, 231, 321n–22n

Guggenheim Fellowship, 131, 238

hair, 64, 103, 136, 180, 197, 221, 249, 250

Hamacher, Christopher, 291

Harbach, Chad, 288

Harms, Juliana, 248–52, 262

Harper’s, 9, 148–49, 155–58, 172, 184–87, 222, 262, 321n

Pale King section in, 292–93

Wallace’s cruise piece for, 201–5, 221–22, 228

Harris, Charlie, 174, 176, 181, 184, 207, 266

Harris, Kymberly, 181, 184–85, 188–89, 201, 207, 208, 223, 232

Infinite Jest and, 181, 188

Harris, Victoria, 181, 184, 207

Harrison, Colin, 186, 201, 202, 262

Harvard University, 137, 149, 153, 229, 261, 275

Wallace’s philosophy studies at, 119, 127, 132–34, 136, 141, 146, 190, 316n, 317n

Hawaii, 26–70

Hawke, Ethan, 220, 224

health insurance, 50, 118–19, 169, 171, 239

Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, A (Eggers), 264

Henry, DeWitt, 148

“Here and There” (Wallace), 62–63, 130, 131, 148, 287, 313n, 322n

Hesse, Doug, 237

Howard, Gerry:

Broom and, 66–71, 77–78, 81, 82, 83, 314n

Infinite Jest and, 162, 163, 171, 172, 220–21

job change of, 117

short stories and, 73, 86–87, 98, 107–9, 117, 131

Somerville visit of, 133

Wallace’s correspondence with, 68–71, 81, 82, 107–8, 117, 138, 172, 315n

Wallace’s meetings with, 83, 97, 99, 131–32, 133

Hubbard, Stephanie, 165

Hyde, Lewis, 156, 318n

“Hysterical Realism,” 264–65

Idol, Billy, 85

Illinois, 17, 21, 23, 183, 259, 319n

state fair in, 184–87, 208, 319n, 320n

Illinois, University of, 1, 16, 28

see also Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; Chicago, Ill.

Illinois State University (ISU), 151, 173–76, 180, 187–88, 197–98, 221–22, 230–31, 233, 234, 237, 239, 266, 267, 274

Infinite Jest (Wallace), 5, 8, 58, 94, 153, 158–64, 166, 171–77, 181–86, 188–201, 204–32, 234–37, 239, 242, 264, 265, 286, 301, 311n–14n, 317n–23n

Avril Incandenza in, 3, 160, 177, 197, 199, 206, 313n, 321n

blue in, 208, 320n

book tours for, 220–27, 229

copyediting of, 209–11, 228

cover of, 208

cuts and revisions to, 182–83, 190, 191, 193–96, 198–201, 205–7, 234

dedication of, 197

DeLillo and, 205, 208, 223, 225–26, 319n

Hal in, 10–11, 13, 247, 258, 323n, 324n

Internet Age and, 217–19

Larson in, 317n

Madame Psychosis in, 177

movie option for, 225

naming rights to year in, 319n

other Wallace works compared with, 245, 253, 255–58, 261, 263, 276, 279, 280, 293, 295, 296

paperback of, 228, 229

postcard campaign for, 211

publication of, 211, 212, 255

publication party for, 222–23, 224

recovery in, 137, 139, 141, 151, 177, 179, 182, 316n–19n

redemption and, 213, 214, 215

reputation of, 286–88

reviews of, 216–17

spiders in, 313n

start of, 159, 318n

structure of, 182–83, 321n

success of, 215–16, 225, 230, 240

tenth anniversary of, 290–91

three main plot strands of, 159–62, 182

“What Are You Exactly” in, 318n

Internet Age, Internet, 217–19, 286–87, 324n

Iowa, University of, Writers’ Workshop of, 50, 61, 106, 312n

irony, 80, 95, 156–57, 178, 187, 209, 213, 221, 255, 265, 275, 277, 279, 288, 317n, 318n

IRS, 255–57, 291–95, 298, 315n, 323n, 325n

Jacobs, Timothy, 288

Jamaica, 249–50

James, Caryn, 81–82

Janowitz, Tama, 82, 97

Javit, Dan, 15–17

Jeopardy! (TV show), 67, 75–76, 103, 112, 316n

Jeopardy story, see “Little Expressionless Animals”

Jews, 63–64

“John Billy” (Wallace), 87, 106, 129, 131

Johnson, Lyndon B., 84–85

Joyce, James, 9, 316n

Joyce, Michael, 208

JT (Jate), 71–73, 85, 88, 89, 95, 105, 226

Justus, Andrea, 52–54, 59

Kafka, Franz, 12, 29, 37, 70, 253, 312n, 321n

Kakutani, Michiko, 82, 217, 254–55, 279

Karr, Dev, 146, 147, 151, 152, 164–65, 170

Karr, Mary, 146–49, 151–54, 158, 162–70, 180–81, 219, 232, 251, 282, 317n, 318n, 319n

husband of, 146, 151, 163, 164, 167

Infinite Jest and, 177, 188, 206–7

Wallace’s problems with, 167–68, 170, 173, 175, 177, 180, 233, 296

Wallace’s therapy and, 181

Keats, John, 234–35

Kennick, William, 22, 25–26, 28, 32, 40, 49, 54, 113

Kenyon College, 284–86, 291, 293, 324n

Kirkus Reviews, 81, 128, 216

Kirn, Walter, 216

Lacy, Stephen, 291–92

Lane, Homer, 294

language, 52, 56, 73, 111, 115, 142, 163, 166, 213, 249–50, 262, 279, 313n, 317n

reality and, 44–45, 46

structures of, 39–40

words, 2–3, 36, 44, 67, 76, 102–3, 163, 230, 316n

see also grammar

Lannan Foundation, 238, 239, 258

Larson, Deb, 137, 147, 163, 318n

Larson, Nat, 24, 27

Las Vegas, Nev., 244–45, 322n

Late Night with David Letterman (TV show), 85–86, 104, 106–9, 156, 179, 196

lawsuits, 79, 107, 150, 161

Leavitt, David, 143, 208

Lelchuk, Alan, 38–39, 44, 61, 62

Less Than Zero (Ellis), 60, 65, 73

Letterman, David, 85–86, 107, 109, 316n

Letterman story, see “My Appearance”

Levin, Jenifer, 128–29

Leyner, Mark, 143, 155–56, 157, 168–69, 172–73, 202, 209, 225, 229, 322n

Liar’s Club, The (Karr), 167

Lighthouse Institute, 179–80

Lipsky, David, 35, 223

literary theory, 38, 56, 59, 69, 74, 100, 288, 313n, 315n

literary universe, map of, 96

literature, purpose of, 164, 168–69, 178

Little, Brown, 321n

Brief Interviews and, 245, 253, 255, 264

Infinite Jest and, 171–73, 191, 194, 195, 208, 211–12, 216, 222, 224, 225, 227, 229, 290

“Little Expressionless Animals” (Wallace), 75–76, 80, 85, 87, 101, 103, 108, 109, 112, 131, 191, 314n

“Lizard, the,” 120

lobsters, 272–73

logic, 25, 28, 30, 32, 40

London Review of Books, 280

Los Angeles, Calif., 52–53, 88, 125, 224, 253–54, 299

Los Angeles Times, 271, 284

Lost in the Funhouse (Barth), 90–91

“Lost in the Funhouse” (Barth), 89–92, 108

Lotus Development, 138, 187

“Love” (Wallace), 63, 311n

Lowry, Malcolm, 148, 166

“Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR” (Wallace), 78, 79

Lynch, David, 85, 214

“Lyndon” (Wallace), 84–85, 128, 131

MacArthur Foundation, 239, 252, 268

McCaffery, Larry, 155, 178, 214, 215, 314n

McCain, John, 259–60

McCarthy, Cormac, 165–66, 213, 234

McInerney, Jay, 60–61, 67, 82, 103, 110, 217

at Yaddo, 95–96, 97, 101, 103, 179

McLagan, Charles, 30–31, 33–34, 37–38, 50, 88

leather jacket bought from, 58, 79

Wallace’s novel thesis and, 43, 48

McLean Hospital, 134–37, 146–47, 154, 155

McSweeney’s, 264

Maehr, Martin, 9, 14, 20

magazine publishing, 87, 208, 242, 288

see also specific magazines

Mailer, Norman, 77, 96, 152

Maine, 24, 272

Mao II (DeLillo), 224

Marcus, Greil, 122

marijuana, 8, 10–11, 18, 19, 21, 30, 42, 47, 80, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 98, 101, 103, 106, 113–14, 149, 150, 152, 249

Big Craig’s view of, 317n

in fiction, 161–62, 175, 193

Markson, David, 120–23, 126, 142

Wallace’s correspondence with, 139, 146, 149, 151–52, 212, 216, 227, 239, 262

Mason, Wyatt, 280

math, 28, 41, 133, 260–61, 274–76, 292

media, 31, 47, 60, 75–76, 85–86, 94, 115, 124, 217–19, 223–26, 239–40, 295, 318n

see also advertising; television

meditation, 257, 262, 291

“Meninas, Las” (Wallace), 318n

metafiction, 88, 90–94, 101, 104, 111, 293

Midwest, 38, 57, 95, 130, 132, 177, 181, 184, 207, 220, 315n

spaces and unstructured world of, 13

virtues of, 1–2, 157

Wallace’s distancing from, 24–25, 64

Miller, Alice, 169–70

Miller, Laura, 229, 321n

minimalist style, 60–61, 62, 66, 87, 110, 111, 212, 313n, 319n

Miriam in Her Forties (Lelchuk), 39

Mississippi River, 231–32

Moby-Dick (Melville), 3–4

modernism, 59–60, 217, 315n

Moody, Rick, 171, 213, 264, 289

Moore, Brian, 164

Moore, Steven, 142, 172, 174

Wallace’s correspondence with, 109, 118, 120, 121, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130, 131, 138, 142, 149–50, 161, 178, 191, 238, 239, 242, 253, 254–55, 274, 282, 316n

Morrow, Brad, 130

Wallace’s correspondence with, 118, 119, 128, 134, 162, 163, 180, 232, 235, 249, 253, 264, 267, 268, 269, 270, 315n, 316n

mother-child bond, 241–42, 319n

Mount Auburn Club, 138

movies, 6, 58, 67, 82, 85, 181, 211, 230, 258, 265, 316n, 317n, 318n

action, 167

in Infinite Jest, 171

porn, 124–25, 244

Wallace’s options for, 82, 225, 322n

murder, 139, 162–63, 318n

music, 30, 31, 43, 59, 72–73, 85, 95, 122–23, 223, 265, 290, 313n, 314n, 321n–22n

“crime jazz,” 153

Infinite Jest compared with, 221

rap, 122–23, 125, 133, 136, 150–51

Must We Mean What We Say? (Cavell), 132

“My Appearance” (Wallace), 85–87, 104, 106–9, 131, 149, 314n

My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist (Leyner), 155–56

Mystery Train (Marcus), 122

N+1, 288

Nadell, Bonnie, 65–67, 69, 82, 84, 97, 105, 299, 300, 315n

Infinite Jest and, 162, 163, 171, 183, 216, 224

McLean visit of, 136

Sommerville visit of, 125

Wallace’s correspondence with, 65–66, 71, 77, 79, 82, 83, 84, 87, 98, 99, 101, 112, 116–17, 123, 124–25, 127, 128, 132, 136–37, 154, 183, 246, 298

names, 66, 206, 231, 284, 295, 296–97, 320n

Nardil, 52, 114–17, 154, 251, 297, 298, 300, 322n

“Neiman-Marcus Nihilism,” 110

New Republic, 264–65

Newsday, 228–29

New York City, 127, 152

Wallace’s visits to, 67, 76, 83, 97–98, 99, 103, 125, 130, 131–32, 173, 174, 196, 202, 207, 208, 220–25, 279, 290–91

New Yorker, 87, 273, 292–93, 323n

New York Observer, 242–45, 314n

New York Review of Books, 255

New York Times, 82, 132, 217, 254–55, 279

New York Times Book Review, 81–82, 126, 128–29, 217, 229, 254, 265, 276

New York Times Magazine, 168, 220, 221, 222, 290, 299, 323n

nicknames, 27, 52, 320n

Nirvana, 221, 321n–22n

Nogales, 77

nursing homes, 46, 312n

Obama, Barack, 299

Oberlin College, 13–14

Oblivion (Wallace), 78, 276–80, 324n

O’Brien, John, 177, 189, 231

O’Connor, Flannery, 115–16

“Octet” (Wallace), 247

Ohio, 71, 119

Omensetter’s Luck (Gass), 74

“Order and Flux in Northampton” (Wallace), 118, 138, 316n

Ostheimer, Martha, 105, 113

paintings, 314n, 318n

Pale King, The (Wallace), 8, 10, 12, 78, 255–59, 262, 274, 276, 280, 289–97, 298, 301, 312n, 324n–25n

cars in, 33

readings from, 273, 292

writing style and, 320n

“Panic of Influence, The” (Scott), 255

Papineau, David, 276

Paris Review, 95, 101, 112

Parker, Andrew, 38, 56, 100, 104, 247

Patchett, Ann, 127

Penner, Jonathan, 61–65, 72, 313n, 314n

Perkins, Susan, 13, 24, 28, 51, 52, 53, 59, 62, 185, 249

Peterson, Dale, 46, 74–75, 87, 101, 113, 155, 266, 267

Granada House and, 138, 141–42

Wallace’s teaching and, 84, 88, 99–100, 176

Wallace’s thesis and, 43, 48

Phaedo (Plato), 11

philosophy, 1, 11, 25–26, 28, 29, 38–41, 49, 82, 90, 251, 312n, 317n

Wallace’s return to, 119, 126, 127, 132–33, 137

Wallace’s thesis in, 39–41

Wittgenstein and, 32, 44–47, 65

Pietsch, Michael, 171–73, 202, 205–10, 212, 216, 225, 253, 263, 264, 290, 299, 301

Infinite Jest edited by, 182–83, 190, 191, 193–96, 198–200, 205–6, 234

magazine pieces and, 227–28

short stories and, 245, 247–48, 274, 276–77

Placebo Records, 73, 314n

plagiarism, 106, 319n

“Planet Trillaphon as It Stands in Relation to the Bad Thing, The” (Wallace), 34–38, 41, 311n, 312n

Plato, 11

Playboy, 87, 96, 106–7, 125, 128, 245

Poag, Doug, 220, 248–49, 252

Poag, Erin, 220, 248–49

poetry, 58, 74, 150, 257, 317n

of Berkeley, 91, 314n

of Dickinson, 15, 152

of Eliot, 38, 58

of Keats, 234–35

of Wallace, 3, 4, 5, 23, 74

politics, 21, 25, 212, 259–60, 295–96, 299, 313n

Pomona College, 266–71, 273, 274, 296

pornography, 29, 123–28, 133, 142, 184, 257, 261, 316n, 318n, 323n

awards ceremony and, 244–45, 323n

postmodern literature, 29–31, 47, 60, 62, 65, 66, 71, 89, 91, 94, 95–96, 107, 111, 115, 126, 135, 156, 157, 159, 191, 212, 217, 231, 255, 315n, 318n

see also Barth, John; Barthelme, Donald; Pynchon, Thomas

Premiere, 244–45, 323n

psychiatry, 114, 116, 136, 300

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung (Bangs), 122

Publishers Weekly, 216, 253

Puente, Tito, 153

Purple America (Moody), 213

Pynchon, Thomas, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 43, 53, 56, 60, 67, 76, 85, 105, 156, 192, 213–14, 225, 316n

Broom and, 47, 48, 60, 66, 69, 70, 77, 80, 82, 312n

Vollmann and, 130, 316n

Wallace’s disappointment with, 152

waste in, 313n

Rabbit at Rest (Updike), 184

“Rabbit Resurrected” (Wallace), 184

Ragde, Prabhakar, 276

Rainbow Stories, The (Vollmann), 130, 213, 316n

Rawls, John, 119, 133

reading, physics of, 69–70, 182

Reagan, Ronald, 212, 221, 256, 259, 313n

realism, 38, 39, 50, 60, 61, 84, 92, 101, 115, 153, 212–13, 231, 314n

religion, 114, 140, 164, 166, 181, 251, 257, 316n

Review of Contemporary Fiction, 118, 124, 151, 174

Walden’s job at, 189–90

Wallace interview in, 155, 178, 214, 215, 314n

Wallace’s work in, 109–12, 120, 142, 172

Rich C., 113–14, 115, 251

Girl and, 132, 133

Wallace’s correspondence with, 105, 117, 118, 138, 139–40, 257, 259

Rolling Stone, 223, 259–60, 262–63

Rose, Charlie, 223, 229–30, 231

rose, frying of, 89, 92, 315n

Rucker, Rudy, 276

Russell, Bertrand, 26, 126, 251

Ryan, Michael, 138

Sabrina, 26–27, 31

“Sabrina Brothers in the Case of the Hung Hamster, The” (Wallace), 26–27

Saint James, Susan, 85, 106–8

Salinger, J. D., 4, 35, 288

Salon.com, 229, 253, 259, 264, 321n

San Francisco, Calif., 105, 113, 224, 316n

Scott, A. O., 255

Seattle, Wash., 224, 321n

Sedaris, David, 299

“Self-Harm as a Sort of Offering” (collected later as “Suicide as a Sort of Person”; Wallace), 241–42

September 11 attacks, 262–63

sex, 29, 30, 57–58, 96, 181, 221, 225, 232–34, 241, 247, 277, 323n, 324n

advertising and, 123

in fiction, 48, 58, 69, 73, 197, 243

masturbation, 153, 317n

Signifying Rappers (Wallace and Costello), 125, 150–51, 208, 323n

Silverblatt, Michael, 253–54

Simpson, Mona, 96

sincerity, 157, 158, 164, 178, 208, 213, 221, 231, 255, 263, 288, 319n, 321n

Slick Rick, 122–23

Smith, Lee, 125, 208

“Solomon Silverfish” (Wallace), 63–64, 313n

Somerville, Mass., 119–25, 127–28, 130, 133, 136, 142, 145, 146, 155, 316n, 317n, 318n

Sorrentino, Gilbert, 56, 109, 116, 321n

Spano, Brian, 13

Spark, Debra, 139, 146, 154, 164, 167, 175, 210

Story of My Life (McInerney), 95, 103

Streitfeld, David, 219

substance abuse recovery, 135–39, 149, 179, 219, 317n

suffering, 163, 237, 272, 317n

“Suffering Channel, The” (Wallace), 278–81, 296

suicide, 22, 33, 35, 37, 42, 52, 57, 104, 109, 117, 134, 143, 154, 298–301, 322n

in fiction, 130, 159, 161, 199, 241–42, 278

Supposedly Funny Thing I’ll Never Do Again, A (Wallace), 228–29, 232, 234

Suttree (McCarthy), 166, 213

Swarthmore College, 163–64

Syracuse, N.Y., 152, 164–70, 173, 177, 179–84, 234

tattoos, 138, 147, 249, 282

taxes, 194, 296, 315n

Taylor, Richard, 40–41

television, 18, 31, 88, 106–11, 152, 218, 233, 252

in fiction, 67, 75–76, 85–86, 103, 104, 106–9, 112

Wallace’s appearances on, 223–24, 229–30, 231

Wallace’s piece on, 148–49, 155–58, 172, 184

Wallace’s watching of, 6, 20–21, 42–43, 51, 94, 101, 104, 113, 116, 120, 213, 220, 251, 283, 286, 311n

tennis, 8–12, 14, 17, 20, 56, 58, 95, 130, 161, 167, 179, 188, 320n

in letters, 186, 194

“Tennis, Trigonometry, Tornadoes” (Wallace), 184, 228, 319n–20n

tennis, Wallace’s writing on, 208, 261, 290, 320n

Tennis (magazine), 208, 320n

Texas, 167, 258–59, 261, 265

therapy, 22, 29, 70, 113, 136, 149, 169–70, 177, 179, 181, 233, 283

electroconvulsive, 25, 35, 42, 117, 123

in fiction, 62, 68, 318n

group, 139, 169

marriage and family, 29, 70, 283

Thich Nhat Hanh, 262

“This Living Hand” (Keats), 234–35

“Three Protrusions” (Wallace), 175

“Ticket to the Fair” (Wallace), 184–87, 319n, 320n

Titanic (movie), 230

tobacco chewing, 103, 163, 165, 202, 222, 232, 251, 315n

tornadoes, 200, 320n

Toward the End of Time (Updike), 243–44

Tractatus Logico-Philosophus (Wittgenstein), 44, 126, 142, 315n

Trebek, Alex, 67, 75, 76, 117–18

Tucson, Ariz., 51, 53–65, 71–77, 132, 314n

apartments in, 54–55, 64, 71–72, 79, 88

cabin near, 115, 167

Wallace’s returns to, 105, 112–16

see also Arizona, University of

Turner, Alice, 96, 97, 104, 106–7, 108, 125, 128

Wallace’s correspondence with, 106, 173, 210, 211, 227, 230

Twenty-Seventh City, The (Franzen), 115, 130

Understanding David Foster Wallace (Boswell), 288, 324n

Updike, John, 29, 30, 96, 108, 115, 184, 223, 243–44, 254

Urbana, Ill., see Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Urbana High School, 9, 13, 185, 265

Us, 97

“View from Mrs. Thompson’s, The” (Wallace), 262–63, 276

Viking Penguin, 66–71, 81, 82, 83, 98, 101, 117, 122, 314n

legal department of, 107, 108–9, 112, 315n

short story collection publication dropped by, 109, 112

Voice Literary Supplement, 150, 208–9, 216

Vollmann, William, 130, 131, 143, 155, 213, 264, 289, 316n

Walden, Gale, 58–59, 64, 72–75, 80, 81, 97, 100, 147, 153, 165, 188, 323n

Wallace’s break with, 83–84, 92, 104–5, 123, 128

Wallace’s fiction and, 92, 93, 159

Wallace’s friendship with, 189–90

Walden, Joelle, 159

Wallace, Amy, 1–8, 29, 42, 70, 145, 248, 311n

on David, 11, 12, 34, 316n

David’s depression and, 116, 117, 298

David’s fiction and, 75, 312n, 313n

David’s relationship with, 6–7, 12, 22–23, 73–74, 89, 113, 323n

David’s travels with, 73–74

David’s wedding and, 282–83

David’s work and, 211, 320n, 321n

education of, 27, 185

marriage of, 197

religion and, 114, 316n

Wallace, David Foster:

anger of, 6, 13, 74, 81, 129–30, 143, 150, 170, 175, 211, 269, 299, 316n

Wallace, David Foster (cont.)

anxiety and stress of, 8, 10–13, 16, 20, 22, 31–32, 48, 55, 64, 80, 83, 97–98, 99, 106, 112, 113, 136, 169, 177, 194–95, 198, 206–7, 218, 239, 248, 255, 298, 319n

apologizing and amends making of, 113, 127, 143, 227, 265–66, 323n

appearance of, 4, 7, 17, 20, 24–25, 38, 58, 64–65, 67, 79, 96, 97, 103, 136, 147, 174, 179, 187, 196, 197, 222, 249, 250, 270, 271, 282, 297–98, 299, 319n

athletic activities of, 7–12, 14, 17, 20, 32, 43, 53, 56, 64, 95, 105, 167, 170, 179, 184, 188, 270

awards and prizes of, 5–6, 9, 28, 33, 39, 50, 51, 80, 103, 112, 138, 174, 229, 238–39, 242, 260

book reviewing of, 120–23, 126, 142–43, 146, 152, 154, 243–44

book tours and signings of, 76, 220–27, 229, 253, 279

as brand, 208, 320n

childhood of, 1–9, 26, 55, 113, 157, 169–70, 186, 200, 271

cleverness of, 139, 148, 150, 171, 255

clowning and showing off of, 7, 22, 56–57, 139, 157

college-years fiction writing of, 23, 29, 34–48, 54–55, 57, 59–71, 73, 74–78, 84–88, 90, 91, 94, 311n–14n

competitiveness of, 39, 55, 89, 96, 129, 143, 231, 273, 282, 316n

confidence of, 28, 53, 80, 90, 131, 158, 174

debating of, 21

depression of, 8, 13, 22, 28, 31–35, 38, 41–42, 51–52, 100, 101, 103, 104–5, 115–17, 120, 135, 154, 169, 298–301

as drama junkie, 153–54

drinking of, 21, 30, 80, 83, 89, 95, 100, 101, 104, 105, 106, 113–15, 119, 123, 127, 132–36, 140, 146, 150, 169, 225, 234, 315n

early writing of, 2, 4–6, 9, 12, 18, 19

education of, 2, 5, 11–22, 119, 127, 132–34, 136, 137, 146, 190, 256, 291, 312n, 316n; see also Amherst; Arizona, University of

exaggerations and inventions of, 139, 147, 185, 186, 192, 317n, 319n–20n

fame, celebrity, and success of, 10, 71, 96, 97, 101, 178, 221, 225, 230–31, 232, 234, 239–40, 245–46, 314n, 315n

family background of, 1–7, 164, 318n, 319n

fear of disclosure and privacy of, 8, 17–18, 43, 59

female interests and dating of, 10, 42, 51–54, 72–77, 83–84, 95, 96, 97, 100, 113, 120, 126, 127, 132, 173, 180–81, 202–3, 222–25, 232–34, 241, 248–52, 266, 268–73, 315n, 322n; see also Harris, Kymberly; Karr, Mary; Perkins, Susan; Walden, Gale

finances of, 50, 66–67, 79, 81, 82, 84, 87, 97, 99, 112, 118–19, 125, 142, 149, 151, 153, 163, 171, 184, 228, 239, 250, 261, 262, 315n, 316n

gratitude of, 70, 228, 300

guilt of, 42, 51, 129, 183

hospitalization of, 52, 116, 134–37, 154, 298, 299–300

house purchased by, 200–201

humor and funniness of, 4–5, 7, 10, 21, 26–27, 31, 62, 63–64, 83, 159, 185, 186, 197, 216, 245, 299, 313n

injuries of, 121, 147, 151–52, 316n

insecurity of, 44, 68, 125, 131, 314n

intelligence of, 11, 18–19, 42, 114, 136, 139, 174, 215, 311n

isolation and loneliness of, 12, 17, 104, 142, 153, 175, 202, 231, 236

Kenyon College address of, 284–86, 291, 293, 324n

listening skills of, 233, 322n

literary readings of, 83, 96, 105, 131, 163, 220–21, 224, 232, 266, 273

marriage of, see Green, Karen

marriage plans of, 83–84, 100, 104, 152, 154, 166, 170, 250–51, 270, 282

meanness of, 6–7, 21, 113, 187

medications used by, 32, 34, 35, 52, 53, 96, 114–17, 251, 297, 298, 300, 322n

mental breakdowns of, 22–23, 32–34, 51–52, 115, 116, 154, 158, 315n

name of, 66

need for order of, 136, 139, 142–43

non-writing and teaching jobs of, 23, 42, 112, 138, 187

old drafts of, 146, 158, 166

parody, mimicry, and farce of, 26–27, 62, 63, 65, 72, 74, 76, 83, 157, 161, 184, 247, 312n, 314n, 316n

personal hygiene of, 16, 17, 18, 37–38, 69, 119–20, 163, 165, 187

phobic mind of, 20, 24, 123

politeness and graciousness of, 17, 57, 95, 314n

popularity of, 7, 27, 42, 80, 148

puberty of, 9, 13, 27, 55

reading of, 2, 5–6, 29–32, 34, 38, 47, 56, 59, 72, 84, 120, 122, 126, 133, 143, 144, 146, 152, 153, 169–70, 209, 272, 289, 296, 300, 312n, 316n

recreational drug use of, 8, 10–11, 18, 19, 21, 30–31, 42, 47, 80, 83, 89, 95, 98, 101, 103, 104, 106, 113–14, 119, 123, 127, 149, 150, 169, 219, 234, 315n, 317n

religion and spirituality and, 114, 181, 231–32, 251, 257, 291, 316n

at retreats, 231–32, 258–59, 261, 262, 265

sexuality of, 29, 96, 113, 126, 153, 181, 225, 232–34, 241, 317n, 323n

single-entendre writing commitment of, 158, 159, 279, 289

smoking of, 54, 68, 79, 80, 103, 119, 123, 191, 202, 237, 251, 300, 322n

sobriety of, 106, 113–14, 135–47, 149–50, 153, 154, 155, 162, 166, 167, 168, 178, 179–80, 202, 227, 233, 234, 283, 315n, 320n

suicide of, 298–301

sweating of, 64, 80, 273, 297

teaching of, 79–80, 84, 88, 97, 99–105, 112, 115–16, 133, 137, 148, 149, 151, 153, 154, 163, 173–76, 178, 180, 187–88, 191, 197–98, 230, 231, 233, 237–38, 251–52, 262, 266–67, 270–71, 284, 322n

therapy of, 22, 29, 33, 34, 117, 123, 136, 139, 149, 169–70, 177, 179, 181, 233, 283, 300

thesis help given by, 47, 52

travels of, 24, 52–53, 73–74, 78–79, 88, 105, 125, 163–64, 167, 196, 201–5, 244–45, 249–50, 252, 258–59, 262, 268, 269–70, 272–73, 290, 299

writer’s block of, 100–101, 102, 106, 111, 144, 145, 149, 154, 155, 234–38, 266, 292

writing style of, 34, 35, 142, 159, 171, 320n–21n

Wallace, David Rains, 66

Wallace, James, 1–8, 10–14, 20, 21, 22, 41, 58, 106, 112, 127, 232, 272, 282, 297, 312n, 318n, 324n

Amherst and, 13, 14, 16, 22, 25

David’s dependence on, 118

David’s depression and, 22, 33, 51, 116, 300

on Harvard, 316n

marriage of, 23, 28–29, 113, 314n

philosophy and, 1, 11, 25, 32, 41, 119, 133

religion and, 114, 316n

Wallace, Sally Foster, 1–8, 11–12, 20–25, 33, 47, 51, 58, 66, 106, 112, 137, 232, 272, 282, 297, 313n, 314n

care packages of, 17, 18

correct usage and, 2–3, 56–57, 165, 187, 271

on David’s anxiety, 12–13

David’s dependence on, 118

David’s depression and, 22, 33, 51, 53, 116, 117, 300

David’s estrangement from, 170, 187

David’s therapy and, 169, 170, 177, 181, 233

David’s work and, 177, 197, 211, 241–42, 321n

marriage of, 23–24, 28–29, 113, 169, 314n

religion and, 114, 316n

Wall Street Journal, 82–83, 315n

Washington, Corey, 21, 27–34, 42, 51–52, 224, 232

Wallace’s correspondence with, 28–34, 37, 41, 43, 53–56, 67, 74, 77, 79, 80, 101, 105, 112, 176–79, 227, 259, 314n

Washington Post, 143, 219, 276

Welty, Eudora, 102, 103

“Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way” (Wallace), 89–94, 96, 98–102, 104, 108, 109, 130, 131, 159, 160, 214, 241, 315n

as phoenix, 135

reading of, 105

theft of, 98

White, Curtis, 174, 267

White Noise (DeLillo), 225–26

“Whiz Kid and His Wacky First Novel, A” (profile), 82–83

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 32, 44–47, 65, 68, 126, 288, 312n, 313n, 315n

Wittgenstein’s Mistress (Markson), 120–23, 126, 128, 142, 172, 174, 253

Wodehouse, P. G., 189, 207

Wood, James, 228–29, 264–65

Workshop Hermeticism, 110–11

Wright, Evan, 245, 323n

Wurtzel, Elizabeth, 202–3, 220, 224–25, 241, 269, 320n, 324n

W. W. Norton, 117, 120, 128, 131, 138, 171, 260

Yaddo, 136, 317n

Wallace at, 88–89, 94–99, 101, 103, 125–28, 131, 142, 158, 159, 160, 179, 314n

Zenith, MV (the Nadir), 202–5

Zipper, the, 185, 186

Zumbyes, 59, 313n