David Foster Wallace

4 posts

George Saunders’ “Victory Lap”

Tenth of December bookstackHere in 2013, American short-fiction author George Saunders is having a moment. His fourth collection of short stories, Tenth of December, was published in January. Wikipedia describes the book’s critical reception as “mixed to positive” — but the positive end of that range seems remarkably intense: A recent New York Times Magazine interview with the author is titled “George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You’ll Read This Year.” (Bold title for an article published during the first week of January.) And on a winter Sunday after yet another nor’easter had finished slamming New England, Saunders’ Boston-area reading practically filled a local auditorium with his fans. Continue reading →

Every Literary Biography Is a Ghost Story: Discussing David Foster Wallace

Stack of DFW books (cropped)

In mid-December D.T. Max, author of the first full-length biography of the American novelist David Foster Wallace — titled Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story — made a special appearance at Harvard University. Max was scheduled to participate in a “public conversation” with literary critic and part-time Harvard Professor James Wood. Continue reading →