R.I.P., David Foster Wallace

Aww crap... David Foster Wallace committed suicide. DFW was my favorite contemporary author, somebody whose intelligence and wit screamed off of every page he wrote. His essays are a pure joy to read, but tackling Infinite Jest was like tackling a big intellectual project --- it took me three months to do, I had to use two bookmarks (one for the main text and one for the footnotes), and figuring out the chronology was a task in itself, but it was so rewarding.

Why do so many bright people choose to end it all? After reading Consider the Lobster a couple months ago, I remember perusing the "also by David Foster Wallace" list, noting that I'd read about half of the books there, and thinking forward to wonder what else he might take on. What a waste that there will be nothing more.

MORE: Michiko Kakutani has more to say on Wallace.