The Howling Fantods

Kathleen Fitzpatrick, an associate professor of English and Media Studies at Pomona College in Claremont, California, has published her DFW memorial tribute on her blog. It is beautiful and moving. 

 

Thank you for making this available to everyone, Kathleen. 

 

Read Requiescat in Pace over at the Planned Obsolescence blog.

Reggie Lutz wrote to the fantods a while ago with, in her words (so terribly sorry, Reggie!), a DFW tribute thing. I've been sitting on it waiting for the right time, and now seems like that time. Thank you so much, Reggie. Over to you.

 

Back in September I wrote this odd piece in response to the news of David Foster Wallace's death, and then sent it via email to my friend James Morrow (author of The Last Witchfinder, Philosopher's Apprentice, etc...) who responded with some interesting comments. I saved the emails, hid them for a while, and was reminded of the exchange after hearing the announcement of the posthumous book.

After looking at it again it struck me that the exchange may be an echo of conversations that a lot of those who loved Mr. Wallace's work may have had. I've never met him, never wrote a fan letter or anything like that, but like so many of his readers have already expressed, reading David Foster Wallace made one feel a sense of personal connection. Because his writing was so brave and honest and created that sense of connectedness, I felt that maybe I should also be brave and offer the following for the tribute page, with Jim's permission of course.

I am uncertain as to what to do with it, exactly, and thought of The Howling Fantods.

Thanks for your time,

Reggie Lutz

 

(Click read more below for the rest after the jump)

Glenn Kenny has posted a recap (with some great photos) of the U of A event over on his blog, Some Came Running . Hi Glenn! And thanks.

Charles Bock, the author of Beautiful Children, got in touch with a little report about the U of A tribute (thanks, Charles!). Over to Charles:

 

Hey there.  Charles Bock here.  I'm dropping a line to everyone at the Fantods with a bit of an update.  It's being written while at an airport so forgive me if it's not the best thing I've ever done.

Firstly, for those who are interested: my understanding is that pretty much the entire weekend at the U of A — the panel Reading DFW, the panel DFW and his Influences, and then the evening event where different writers read from the work of DFW — all of it has been filmed.  From what I've been told, all of it (minus the parts where I legally slandered one or two literary critics)  will soon be uploaded onto the webernet. My guess is that 'soon' means weeks as opposed to days, but still, that's not so much to wait, when you think about it.

Nextly:  the panels and readings.  Absolutely superb.  Smart and insightful and caring and funny.  Plus there were a few excellent surprises along the way — including a first person account from one of DFW's old MFA classmates about the source material for the famous short story 'Girl With The Curious Hair.'   (I consider myself fairly well informed on the DFW front and I'd never heard this story, and I don't think anyone else on the panel had either, so that was pretty cool.)

And yes, the special issue of the Sonora Review also is first rate.  Because it's a double issue, each side of the SR has its own cover.  The DFW tribute pages are delineated by black marks on the bottom.   It's really well done.  I'm glad I ran away with as many as I did.

I'd also like to say, on behalf of Marshall Boswell, Ken Kalfus, Greg Carlisle, Glenn Kenny, Bonnie Nadell, and yours truly, that it was a serious honor to be a part of the event, and that Aurelie and Michael and everyone at the U of A did one fantastic job.  Our public thanks to them for everything.

Okay.  Just wanted to check in.

I remain howling, and a fantod, and of course, also...

Charles

If you have not yet ordered the Sonora Review double issue and DFW tribute (which also includes a previously uncollected DFW short story) I believe it is ready to go and looks fantastic. More info here.

 

Unfortunately, I simply forgot to post a reminder about the joint Sonora Review and University of Arizona DFW  (Scroll down to 1 May) event over the weekend. From all reports it was fantastic, and attended by some big names in the DFW literary community, I'm sorry I couldn't be there.

 

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Registered Fantods Members: You might notice a forum link flick in and out of existence in the main menu to the left (if/when you are logged in) over the next week. We are testing the new forums. All registered members will eventually have full access. If you'd like to be a part of the next round of testing drop me a line.

Mother Jones - David Foster Wallace's Best Advice

New York Observer - Life Lessons From a Depressed Person

The Globe and Mail, Globe Books - This is your choice

 

These appeared earlier this month and I somehow missed them. Tim Jacobs' Globe and Mail piece reads like a much better version of a couple of the pieces I posted recently (and his was published first) so give it a read. I'll also take a moment to remind you about Tim's great essay at RainTaxi online, Considering David Foster Wallace Considering You.