Conversations with David Foster Wallace

Contents

v Contents Introduction ix Chronology xix David Foster Wallace: A Profile 3 William R. Katovsky / 1987 A Whiz Kid and His Wacky First Novel 8 Helen Dudar / 1987 Looking for a Garde of Which to Be Avant: An Interview with David Foster Wallace 11 Hugh Kennedy and Geoffrey Polk / 1993 An Expanded Interview with David Foster Wallace 21 Larry McCaffery / 1993 The Next Big Thing: Can a Downstate Author Withstand the Sensation over His 1,079-Page Novel? 53 Mark Caro / 1996 The Salon Interview: David Foster Wallace 58 Laura Miller / 1996 The Wasted Land 66 David Streitfeld / 1996 David Foster Wallace Winces at the Suggestion That His Book Is Sloppy in Any Sense 70 Anne Marie Donahue/1996 vi CONTENTS Young Writers and the TV Reality 73 Donn Fry / 1997 The “Infinite Story” Cult Hero behind the 1,079-Page Novel Rides the Hype He Skewered 76 Matthew Gilbert / 1997 David Foster Wallace 82 Tom Scocca / 1998 David Foster Wallace: In the Company of Creeps 89 Lorin Stein / 1999 David Foster Wallace Warms Up 94 Patrick Arden / 1999 Mischief: A Brief Interview with David Foster Wallace 101 Chris Wright / 1999 Behind the Watchful Eyes of Author David Foster Wallace 104 Mark Shechner / 2000 Conversation with David Foster Wallace and Richard Powers 110 John O’Brien / 2000 Approaching Infinity 121 Caleb Crain / 2003 To the Best of Our Knowledge: Interview with David Foster Wallace 127 Steve Paulson / 2004 The Connection: David Foster Wallace 136 Michael Goldfarb / 2004 Interview with David Foster Wallace 152 Didier Jacob / 2005 Just Asking . . . David Foster Wallace 158 Christopher John Farley / 2008 CONTENTS vii The Lost Years and Last Days of David Foster Wallace 161 David Lipsky / 2008 Index 183 This page intentionally left blank ...