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