Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace (59 page)

Illinois, 17, 21, 23, 183, 259, 319
n

state fair in, 184–87, 208, 319
n,
320
n

Illinois, University of, 1, 16, 28

see also
Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; Chicago, Ill.

Illinois State University (ISU), 151, 173–76, 180, 187–88, 197–98, 221–22, 230–31, 233, 234, 237, 239, 266, 267, 274

Infinite Jest
(Wallace), 5, 8, 58, 94, 153, 158–64, 166, 171–77, 181–86, 188–201, 204–32, 234–37, 239, 242, 264, 265, 286, 301, 311
n
–14
n,
317
n
–23
n

Avril Incandenza in, 3, 160, 177, 197, 199, 206, 313
n,
321
n

blue in, 208, 320
n

book tours for, 220–27, 229

copyediting of, 209–11, 228

cover of, 208

cuts and revisions to, 182–83, 190, 191, 193–96, 198–201, 205–7, 234

dedication of, 197

DeLillo and, 205, 208, 223, 225–26, 319
n

Hal in, 10–11, 13, 247, 258, 323
n,
324
n

Internet Age and, 217–19

Larson in, 317
n

Madame Psychosis in, 177

movie option for, 225

naming rights to year in, 319
n

other Wallace works compared with, 245, 253, 255–58, 261, 263, 276, 279, 280, 293, 295, 296

paperback of, 228, 229

postcard campaign for, 211

publication of, 211, 212, 255

publication party for, 222–23, 224

recovery in, 137, 139, 141, 151, 177, 179, 182, 316
n
–19
n

redemption and, 213, 214, 215

reputation of, 286–88

reviews of, 216–17

spiders in, 313
n

start of, 159, 318
n

structure of, 182–83, 321
n

success of, 215–16, 225, 230, 240

tenth anniversary of, 290–91

three main plot strands of, 159–62, 182

“What Are You Exactly” in, 318
n

Internet Age, Internet, 217–19, 286–87, 324
n

Iowa, University of, Writers’ Workshop of, 50, 61, 106, 312
n

irony, 80, 95, 156–57, 178, 187, 209, 213, 221, 255, 265, 275, 277, 279, 288, 317
n,
318
n

IRS, 255–57, 291–95, 298, 315
n,
323
n,
325
n

Jacobs, Timothy, 288

Jamaica, 249–50

James, Caryn, 81–82

Janowitz, Tama, 82, 97

Javit, Dan, 15–17

Jeopardy!
(TV show), 67, 75–76, 103, 112, 316
n

Jeopardy
story,
see
“Little Expressionless Animals”

Jews, 63–64

“John Billy” (Wallace), 87, 106, 129, 131

Johnson, Lyndon B., 84–85

Joyce, James, 9, 316
n

Joyce, Michael, 208

JT (Jate), 71–73, 85, 88, 89, 95, 105, 226

Justus, Andrea, 52–54, 59

Kafka, Franz, 12, 29, 37, 70, 253, 312
n,
321
n

Kakutani, Michiko, 82, 217, 254–55, 279

Karr, Dev, 146, 147, 151, 152, 164–65, 170

Karr, Mary, 146–49, 151–54, 158, 162–70, 180–81, 219, 232, 251, 282, 317
n,
318
n,
319
n

husband of, 146, 151, 163, 164, 167

Infinite Jest
and, 177, 188, 206–7

Wallace’s problems with, 167–68, 170, 173, 175, 177, 180, 233, 296

Wallace’s therapy and, 181

Keats, John, 234–35

Kennick, William, 22, 25–26, 28, 32, 40, 49, 54, 113

Kenyon College, 284–86, 291, 293, 324
n

Kirkus Reviews,
81, 128, 216

Kirn, Walter, 216

Lacy, Stephen, 291–92

Lane, Homer, 294

language, 52, 56, 73, 111, 115, 142, 163, 166, 213, 249–50, 262, 279, 313
n,
317
n

reality and, 44–45, 46

structures of, 39–40

words, 2–3, 36, 44, 67, 76, 102–3, 163, 230, 316
n

see also
grammar

Lannan Foundation, 238, 239, 258

Larson, Deb, 137, 147, 163, 318
n

Larson, Nat, 24, 27

Las Vegas, Nev., 244–45, 322
n

Late Night with David Letterman
(TV show), 85–86, 104, 106–9, 156, 179, 196

lawsuits, 79, 107, 150, 161

Leavitt, David, 143, 208

Lelchuk, Alan, 38–39, 44, 61, 62

Less Than Zero
(Ellis), 60, 65, 73

Letterman, David, 85–86, 107, 109, 316
n

Letterman story,
see
“My Appearance”

Levin, Jenifer, 128–29

Leyner, Mark, 143, 155–56, 157, 168–69, 172–73, 202, 209, 225, 229, 322
n

Liar’s Club, The
(Karr), 167

Lighthouse Institute, 179–80

Lipsky, David, 35, 223

literary theory, 38, 56, 59, 69, 74, 100, 288, 313
n,
315
n

literary universe, map of, 96

literature, purpose of, 164, 168–69, 178

Little, Brown, 321
n

Brief Interviews
and, 245, 253, 255, 264

Infinite Jest
and, 171–73, 191, 194, 195, 208, 211–12, 216, 222, 224, 225, 227, 229, 290

“Little Expressionless Animals” (Wallace), 75–76, 80, 85, 87, 101, 103, 108, 109, 112, 131, 191, 314
n

“Lizard, the,” 120

lobsters, 272–73

logic, 25, 28, 30, 32, 40

London Review of Books,
280

Los Angeles, Calif., 52–53, 88, 125, 224, 253–54, 299

Los Angeles Times,
271, 284

Lost in the Funhouse
(Barth), 90–91

“Lost in the Funhouse” (Barth), 89–92, 108

Lotus Development, 138, 187

“Love” (Wallace), 63, 311
n

Lowry, Malcolm, 148, 166

“Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR” (Wallace), 78, 79

Lynch, David, 85, 214

“Lyndon” (Wallace), 84–85, 128, 131

MacArthur Foundation, 239, 252, 268

McCaffery, Larry, 155, 178, 214, 215, 314
n

McCain, John, 259–60

McCarthy, Cormac, 165–66, 213, 234

McInerney, Jay, 60–61, 67, 82, 103, 110, 217

at Yaddo, 95–96, 97, 101, 103, 179

McLagan, Charles, 30–31, 33–34, 37–38, 50, 88

leather jacket bought from, 58, 79

Wallace’s novel thesis and, 43, 48

McLean Hospital, 134–37, 146–47, 154, 155

McSweeney’s,
264

Maehr, Martin, 9, 14, 20

magazine publishing, 87, 208, 242, 288

see also
specific magazines

Mailer, Norman, 77, 96, 152

Maine, 24, 272

Mao II
(DeLillo), 224

Marcus, Greil, 122

marijuana, 8, 10–11, 18, 19, 21, 30, 42, 47, 80, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 98, 101, 103, 106, 113–14, 149, 150, 152, 249

Big Craig’s view of, 317
n

in fiction, 161–62, 175, 193

Markson, David, 120–23, 126, 142

Wallace’s correspondence with, 139, 146, 149, 151–52, 212, 216, 227, 239, 262

Mason, Wyatt, 280

math, 28, 41, 133, 260–61, 274–76, 292

media, 31, 47, 60, 75–76, 85–86, 94, 115, 124, 217–19, 223–26, 239–40, 295, 318
n

see also
advertising; television

meditation, 257, 262, 291

“Meninas, Las” (Wallace), 318
n

metafiction, 88, 90–94, 101, 104, 111, 293

Midwest, 38, 57, 95, 130, 132, 177, 181, 184, 207, 220, 315
n

spaces and unstructured world of, 13

virtues of, 1–2, 157

Wallace’s distancing from, 24–25, 64

Miller, Alice, 169–70

Miller, Laura, 229, 321
n

minimalist style, 60–61, 62, 66, 87, 110, 111, 212, 313
n,
319
n

Miriam in Her Forties
(Lelchuk), 39

Mississippi River, 231–32

Moby-Dick
(Melville), 3–4

modernism, 59–60, 217, 315
n

Moody, Rick, 171, 213, 264, 289

Moore, Brian, 164

Moore, Steven, 142, 172, 174

Wallace’s correspondence with, 109, 118, 120, 121, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130, 131, 138, 142, 149–50, 161, 178, 191, 238, 239, 242, 253, 254–55, 274, 282, 316
n

Morrow, Brad, 130

Wallace’s correspondence with, 118, 119, 128, 134, 162, 163, 180, 232, 235, 249, 253, 264, 267, 268, 269, 270, 315
n,
316
n

mother-child bond, 241–42, 319
n

Mount Auburn Club, 138

movies, 6, 58, 67, 82, 85, 181, 211, 230, 258, 265, 316
n,
317
n,
318
n

action, 167

in
Infinite Jest,
171

porn, 124–25, 244

Wallace’s options for, 82, 225, 322
n

murder, 139, 162–63, 318
n

music, 30, 31, 43, 59, 72–73, 85, 95, 122–23, 223, 265, 290, 313
n,
314
n,
321
n
–22
n

“crime jazz,” 153

Infinite Jest
compared with, 221

rap, 122–23, 125, 133, 136, 150–51

Must We Mean What We Say?
(Cavell), 132

“My Appearance” (Wallace), 85–87, 104, 106–9, 131, 149, 314
n

My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist
(Leyner), 155–56

Mystery Train
(Marcus), 122

N+1,
288

Nadell, Bonnie, 65–67, 69, 82, 84, 97, 105, 299, 300, 315
n

Infinite Jest
and, 162, 163, 171, 183, 216, 224

McLean visit of, 136

Sommerville visit of, 125

Wallace’s correspondence with, 65–66, 71, 77, 79, 82, 83, 84, 87, 98, 99, 101, 112, 116–17, 123, 124–25, 127, 128, 132, 136–37, 154, 183, 246, 298

names, 66, 206, 231, 284, 295, 296–97, 320
n