More on DFW

The best one-stop collection of remembrances of David Foster Wallace. (I especially liked the story told by the former features editor at Tennis magazine. Little did the editor in chief know what he was getting when he approved an assignment from DFW, a self-described "truculent editee.") In some posthumous portraits he has come across as perpetually gentle and quasi-saintly; the writers here show that there's quite a bit to that, but also that he had a pricklier side, which is refreshing and real.

The most preening and self-advertising, from a writer who had previously signaled she'd moved on from this sort of thing.

The most voyeuristic, and the one about which I have the most mixed feelings. This story was going to be written by someone, however, and this version is handled with some restraint and taste -- but not via airbrushing. His family speaks forthrightly about what he was going through, which was awful, and about which we've only had hints. Its being grounded in reporting also serves to underscore the utter vacuity of the second story I linked to.