[ydb]

People love to hate David Foster Wallace. The irony is palpable when reading critics of his writing; they at times perfectly channel Wallace in their very critique of him. Heck, I was accosted (well, maybe the recipient of a snide remark) on the subway in Boston while I was reading a DFW novel on my commute. The person said that only coddled, white suburban men read his work -- when I am none of those things and sitting right on front of the person. I immediately forgave the cynic, though, once I caught a peek of their Boston University sweater hidden inside the crevasse of a parka's open zipper. :)

David Foster Wallace is the embodiment of a particular 20th and 21st century zeitgeist, and one that if you read between the lines, predicts all the ailments we will be facing in the decades ahead.