David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) was born in Ithaca, New York. He studied English and philosophy at Amherst College (1985), creative writing at the University of Arizona (1987), and attended graduate philosophy courses at Harvard, although he did not complete his studies. Later, he taught creative writing at Illinois State University and Pomona College in Claremont, California. He became known in literature for his "dark," imaginative narratives such as "The Broom of the System" (novel, 1987), "Girl with Curious Hair" (stories, 1989), "Infinite Jest" (novel, 1996), "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" (stories, 1999), and "Oblivion" (stories, 2004), which led some critics to consider him the link between Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, and the postmodern writers of the younger generation. He also published essays like "Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity" (2003), a concise history of the mathematical concept of "infinity." Among other honors, he received the "MacArthur Fellowship," "Lannan," and the "Aga Khan Prize" from "The Paris Review," among others. In the last years of his life, he suffered from depression. He was found hanged at his home in California on Friday, September 12, 2008, and his death was ruled a suicide.