David Foster Wallace
Overview
David Foster Wallace was an American author
of novels, essays, and short stories
, and a professor at Pomona College
in Claremont, California
. He was widely known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest
, which Time included in its All-Time 100 Greatest Novels list (covering the period 1923–2006).
Los Angeles Times
book editor David Ulin called Wallace "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years".
Wallace's unfinished novel, The Pale King
, was published in 2011.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
of novels, essays, and short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, and a professor at Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
in Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
. He was widely known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest is a 1996 novel by David Foster Wallace. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semi-parodic future version of North America, and touches on tennis, substance addiction and recovery programs, depression, child abuse, family relationships, advertising and popular entertainment,...
, which Time included in its All-Time 100 Greatest Novels list (covering the period 1923–2006).
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
book editor David Ulin called Wallace "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years".
Wallace's unfinished novel, The Pale King
The Pale King
The Pale King is an unfinished novel by David Foster Wallace, published posthumously on April 15, 2011. After Wallace's death in September 2008, a manuscript and associated computer files were found by his widow, Karen Green, and his agent, Bonnie Nadell. That material was compiled by his friend...
, was published in 2011.
Quotations
And I'm not saying that television is vulgar and dumb because the people who compose the Audience are vulgar and dumb. Television is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests.
E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction
You'll worry less about what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do.
Infinite Jest