To the Best of Our Knowledge: David Foster Wallace - Jim Fleming

To the Best of Our Knowledge: David Foster Wallace

By Jim Fleming

  • Release Date: 2010-05-27
  • Genre: Arts & Entertainment
  • © 2010 Wisconsin Public Radio (To the Best of Our Knowledge)

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To the Best of Our Knowledge: David Fost Jim Fleming

Summary : To the Best of Our Knowledge: David Foster Wallace

In this hour, Salon book critic Laura Miller explains why David Foster Wallace was the most important writer of his generation. Wallace became a literary rock star in his thirties for the novel Infinite Jest. Time Magazine later included it on its list of "All Time 100 Greatest Novels." When Wallace committed suicide in September 2008 his fans grieved, wrote tributes, and began to speculate about rumors of an unfinished novel. Journalist DT Max tells Steve Paulson about the novel's discovery, Wallace's creative struggles with The Pale King, and the novel's subject - boredom. Also, an interview with David Foster Wallace with Steve Paulson from 2004, just after the publication of his short story collection Oblivion.

Next, Time magazine's book critic Lev Grossman remembers David Foster Wallace, and we present another interview with Wallace in 1996, right after "Infinite Jest" was published. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Lipsky spent a week with Wallace after Infinite Jest came out, and was later assigned to cover the writer's life and death. He tells Jim Fleming that Wallace's emotional struggles began again after graduate school. Michael Pietsch was Wallace's editor at Little, Brown starting in the 90s and is currently at work editing the unfinished novel The Pale King. Pietsch has given us exclusive rights to a passage from the novel, which is read by Chicago actress Carrie Coon.

And finally, One of David Foster Wallace's most popular essays is "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," which ran originally in Harper's Magazine. In 1997 he read a bit of the article for us, and talked with Steve Paulson about it. Wallace's Sister Amy Wallace-Havens describes her brother as immensely bright, funny and courageous. She tells Anne Strainchamps about growing up with him, and about life without him. Also we have an excerpt from the commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave at ...

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