All Things David Foster Wallace

For fans of US author David Foster Wallace (21/02/62 to 12/09/08). I highly recommend this site, which collects a number of interviews with Wallace, but also has a number of audio recordings about Wallace, including Geoff Ward’s BBC audio documentary on DFW. I’d heard a number of the recordings over the years, but its nice to have them collected on one site.

I’m also looking forward to seeing the film The End of the Tour (starring Jason Segal as David Foster Wallace), which I missed when it was a part of last years International Film Festival in NZ. The film is based upon David Lipsky’s non-fiction book Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace (pub. 2010).

Finally, DFW fans will enjoy this round-table conversation, which Melbourne’s Wheeler Institute staged and recorded 2^nd September 2015. The title of the conversation was: No Relation: The Impact, Imitators and Legacy of David Foster Wallace. You’ll find the recording here.

“Is there any figure in the recent history of American literature who has generated as much cringe-inducing veneration – or as much dismay – as the late David Foster Wallace? During his lifetime, the author of Infinite Jest, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and many celebrated essays and articles was a cult figure of soaring intellect, dizzying creative ambition and slightly questionable fashion sense. Many were frustrated by his work (New Yorker literary critic James Wood placed his work in the derogatory category of ‘hysterical realism’) while others saw him as a genius. His status as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century has only grown since his death in 2008.

In this special event, DFW acolytes Sam Cooney, Ronnie Scott, Melinda Houston and Steph Harmon explore Foster Wallace’s legacy for writers and artists. They discuss his impact on popular culture, the scourge of lesser imitators and how the film The End of the Tour celebrates the work of this extraordinary writer.”

The trailer for the film can be seen here on YouTube. You can also listen to David Foster Wallace deliver his very thoughtful and thought-provoking Kenyon Commencement address, delivered in 2005. For more on education I recommend reading or listening to In Defence of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria.