David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was an American novelist and essayist known for maximalist prose, extensive footnotes, and explorations of irony, addiction, and contemporary American life.
His novel *Infinite Jest* (1996) became a touchstone of postmodern fiction.
His 2005 commencement speech "This Is Water" circulates widely as a meditation on awareness and empathy.
He died by suicide in 2008.
Limitless source of amusement
- footnotesMarginal citations below text
- endnotesSupplementary citations after chapters
- maximalismMore-is-more aesthetic philosophy
- novelistWriter of prose narratives
essayist · metafiction · sincerity · irony · literary · writer · prose · wordsmith
Marginal citations below text
- endnotesSupplementary citations after chapters
- digressionVeering off topic
- maximalismMore-is-more aesthetic philosophy
- metafictionLiterature aware of itself
self-referential · recursive · labyrinthine · encyclopedic · verbose · parenthetical · discursive · tangential
Meaning opposite to words
- sincerityHonest, unfeigned genuineness
- lonelinessState of lacking companions
- addictionCompulsive substance reliance
- entertainmentAgreeable diversion of attention
boredom · consciousness · depression · authenticity · empathy · solipsism · media · tennis
- Dostoevsky19th-century Russian author
- WittgensteinPhilosopher of language limits
- postmodernSkeptical of metanarratives
- seminalFoundational and influential
iconic · transformative · cult following · Amherst · teaching · creative writing
Infinite Jest
Limitless source of amusement
- footnotesMarginal citations below text
- endnotesSupplementary citations after chapters
- maximalismMore-is-more aesthetic philosophy
novelist · essayist · metafiction · sincerity · irony · literary · writer · prose · wordsmith · storyteller
footnotes
Marginal citations below text
- endnotesSupplementary citations after chapters
- digressionVeering off topic
- maximalismMore-is-more aesthetic philosophy
metafiction · self-referential · recursive · labyrinthine · encyclopedic · verbose · parenthetical · discursive · tangential · nested
irony
Meaning opposite to words
- sincerityHonest, unfeigned genuineness
- lonelinessState of lacking companions
- addictionCompulsive substance reliance
entertainment · boredom · consciousness · depression · authenticity · empathy · solipsism · media · tennis · television
Thomas Pynchon
- Dostoevsky19th-century Russian author
- WittgensteinPhilosopher of language limits
- postmodernSkeptical of metanarratives
seminal · iconic · transformative · cult following · Amherst · teaching · creative writing
David Foster WallaceErnest Hemingway
Cormac McCarthy · Joan Didion · Albert Camus · Samuel Beckett · minimalism
David Foster WallaceJack Kerouac
Charles Bukowski · Henry Miller · Toni Morrison · Maya Angelou · James Baldwin
David Foster WallaceJames Patterson
Danielle Steel · Nicholas Sparks · John Grisham · Stephen King · Dan Brown
David, foster, fostered, fostering, fosters, fosterage, Wallace, wall, walls