The Legacy of David Foster Wallace

Contents

contents Acknowledgments ix Samuel Cohen and Lee Konstantinou Introduction: Zoologists, Elephants, and Editors xi Part 1. History Paul Giles All Swallowed Up: David Foster Wallace and American Literature 3 Don DeLillo Informal Remarks from the David Foster Wallace Memorial Service in New York on October 23, 2008 23 Josh Roiland Getting Away from It All: The Literary Journalism of David Foster Wallace and Nietzsche’s Concept of Oblivion 25 George Saunders Informal Remarks from the David Foster Wallace Memorial Service in New York on October 23, 2008 53 The essay by Dave Eggers (“Foreword to Tenth Anniversary Edition of Infinite Jest”) is not included in this e-book. Please see the print version of this book to read the essay. vi Part 2. Aesthetics Samuel Cohen To Wish to Try to Sing to the Next Generation: Infinite Jest’s History 59 Rick Moody Tribute Written for Wallace Family Memorial Book, 2008 80 Lee Konstantinou No Bull: David Foster Wallace and Postironic Belief 83 David Lipsky An Interview with David Foster Wallace 113 Heather Houser Infinite Jest’s Environmental Case for Disgust 118 Dave Eggers Foreword to Tenth Anniversary Edition of Infinite Jest 143 vii Part 3. Community Ed Finn Becoming Yourself: The Afterlife of Reception 151 Jonathan Franzen Informal Remarks from the David Foster Wallace Memorial Service in New York on October 23, 2008 177 Kathleen Fitzpatrick Infinite Summer: Reading, Empathy, and the Social Network 182 Michael Pietsch and Rick Moody On Editing David Foster Wallace: An Interview 208 Ira B. Nadel Consider the Footnote 218 Molly Schwartzburg Conclusion: Observations on the Archive at the Harry Ransom Center 241 Notes on Contributors 261 Permissions 265 Index 267 ...