Writer David Foster Wallace Dies At 46

(AP)  David Foster Wallace, the author best known for his 1996 novel "Infinite Jest," was found dead in his home, according to police. He was 46.

Wallace's wife found her husband had hanged himself when she returned home about 9:30 p.m. Friday, said Jackie Morales, a records clerk with the Claremont Police Department.

Wallace taught creative writing and English at nearby Pomona College.

"He cared deeply for his students and transformed the lives of many young people," said Dean Gary Kates. "It's a great loss to our teaching faculty."

Wallace's first novel, "The Broom of the System," gained national attention in 1987 for its ambition and offbeat humor. The New York Times said the 24-year-old author "attempts to give us a portrait, through a combination of Joycean word games, literary parody and zany picaresque adventure, of a contemporary America run amok."

Published in 1996, "Infinite Jest" cemented Wallace's reputation as a major American literary figure. The 1,000-plus page tome, praised for its complexity and dark wit, topped many best of lists. Time Magazine named "Infinite Jest" in its issue of the "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005."

Wallace received a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 1997.

In 2002, Wallace was hired to teach at Pomona in a tenured English Department position endowed by Roy E. Disney. Kates said when the school began searching for the ideal candidate, Wallace was the first person considered.

"The committee said, 'We need a person like David Foster Wallace.' They said that in the abstract," Kates said. "When he was approached and accepted, they were heads over heels. He was really the ideal person for the position."

Wallace's short works were published in Esquire, GQ, Harper's, The New Yorker, The Paris Review and in the collections "Girl With Curious Hair" and "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men." He wrote non-fiction for a number of publications, including an essay on the U.S. Open for Tennis magazine and a profile of the director David Lynch for Premiere.

Born in Ithaca, New York, Wallace attended Amherst College and the University of Arizona.

[averjane]

Credibility2

You can''t make someone go get help. All you can do is continue to tell them and hope to persuade them. Pretty much, they are going to do what they want. If they want to die, they do not care about those around them. To them it is a very real, and personal matter and they are not thinking of others. They do not realize how much they would hurt everyone who cares about them. They are thinking only of themselves.

[averjane]

andor3

What a weirdo for you to even say that. How does anyone have the right to kill, even themselves? He did not give life, he cannot not take it. Anyway, he may have cried out how bad society was, but it sounds to me like he should have gotten mental help. It''s probably society (like how he was raised) that drove him to it or he could have just been a very depressed person. Either way, there is help available. Maybe he didn''t want to live, and in that case that would be selfish of him. All the people who cared about him are left with his loss. Even you are whining.

[andor3]

"What he did was thoughtless and selfish."

What the HELLL is wrong with you to say something like that?He has a right to take his own life, and he accomplished more than most. Yes it is a loss and a tragedy to think what we may have lost, but he cried out from the start at how messed up our society is. America is losing its most sensitive and talented souls by the score because we are no longer worthy of their talents.

[musethalia]

He was a swinger. Hearing how he died just makes one want to hang his head down and sigh.

Posted by yongamerica

sick and wrong

[yongamerica]

He was a swinger. Hearing how he died just makes one want to hang his head down and sigh.

[credibility2]

What he did was thoughtless and selfish. He obviously needed medical intervention. Wonder why those who supposedly loved him or were close to him didn''t make sure he was getting the obvious counseling he needed. It doesn''t matter what any of the so-called great works he did with his life. What matters is that he chose to end it in such a violent selfish way without any thought whatsoever to his loved ones and supporters.

[hotpaulie]

America has lost an amazing writer...I am stunned by this news. R.I.P.