While I am sure he was a big leftist, David Foster Wallace was a brilliant writer. His novel INFINITE JEST is, to me, unreadable (and I love Pynchon), but his essays on Americana included in two collections and in numerous magazines are among the most entertaining I've ever read. His piece on taking a Carnival cruise (republshed in A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I'LL NEVER DO AGAIN) kept me up all night until I finished reading it.
Wallace committed suicide recently, and the link takes you to a collection of reminiscences of him. A troubled soul, but a damned funny writer.
I struggled with Infinite Jest, though I enjoyed reading it. His essays were definitely his best work, though.
Sorry to see him go either way. It’s a loss to the writing world and it’s a real shame to see someone take their own life like that.
