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/lit/ - Literature

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3319094 No.3319094 [Reply] [Original]

so everyone's been saying that the david foster wallace biography is just a historical account of his life and contains facts and quotes from people that knew him

well, that's what a bio is supposed to be. instead these people were expecting a psychoanalysis or something, with explanations for his suicide.

i haven't read any other biography's but i'm pretty sure analyzing a person and giving your own perspective is not writing a biography.

>> No.3319109

Okay.

>> No.3319113

DFW should be a bannable offence

>> No.3319114

>>3319113

No, that's BEE. DFW is very welcome here.

>> No.3319122

>he worried that smoking pot had ruined his brain permanently

iktf

>> No.3319134

>>3319122

That's only really a major issue if you started using in your adolescence.

>> No.3319141

>>3319122
After taking some pill during high school, I passed out in my English class on my teacher. I was almost kicked out of school but I made up a bogus thing about being depressed and suicidal and was able to stay. After that, I felt like I had suffered brain damage because since then I feel out of touch with reality and even feel unable to write a simple sentence. In fact, I am sure that this post is filled with errors.

I feel depressed now..

>> No.3319159

>>3319141

i was addicted to meth for months. memory and cognitive ability impaired but improving slowly. don't care much though, intelligence is just one trait of a person that i think is overrated. it's like being strong, or good looking, or anything else.

>> No.3319169

God he was such a twat

>> No.3319178
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3319178

>>3319159

>I think intelligence is over rated

i don't mean to shit post but seriously, you must be a moron if you believe this. in modern society intelligence is the main factor in how successful a person is. i'm not saying all smart people are successful, i'm saying most successful people are intelligent. i'll even bet it'd be a higher proportion than strong and good looking successful people too.

>> No.3319184

>>3319178
>in modern society intelligence is the main factor in how successful a person is

i don't mean to shit post but seriously you must be a child if you're still trying to achieve modern society's definition of success

>> No.3319188

>>3319184
>>3319178

or you're institutionalized by the system, like the rest of the population. yeah, that's more likely. i really don't give a fuck about your opinion of whether i have money and a car and whatever other bullshit you think is important.

>> No.3319196

>>3319169

Twat, he was such a God.

>> No.3319201

>>3319159

Why did you do meth? Seriously. I can understand dope, MDMA, even LSD but why did you go near meth?

>> No.3319206

>>3319201

started with mdma at clubs on weekends, it stopped working. i decided to try coke, began taking it regularly but couldn't afford it anymore, so i substituted it for meth, which was cheaper.

>> No.3319208
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3319208

>mfw he was going to fucking murder someone
>mfw every time he mentions his 'church' it means 'AA meeting/support group'
>mfw he was a compulsive liar
>mfw hearing people crap on about his blatant honesty
>mfw HE HAD A GUN AND WAS GOING TO STRAIGHT UP FUCKING MURDER THE HUSBAND OF THE INNOCENT WOMAN HE WAS STALKING

>> No.3319213

>>3319208

>invoking author gods
>being worse than that which you decry

>> No.3319215

>>3319208

How strong is evidence for the stuff in this book? Does it seem legit?

>> No.3319235

He won't last. A tawdry excess of a book.

>> No.3319239

>>3319215
All purely anecdotal, evidenced by letters by Himself, a compulsive liar, conversations with his friends [authors; probably liars], old school teachers and principals and family.

So it makes for some great stories, is what I am saying. I have little reason not to believe most of it.

>> No.3319240

>>3319235

Don't act like you can know what kids will be talking about 50 or 100 years from now

Where the fuck is Ford Madox Ford? How did Melville disappear and return? Why did Sherwood Anderson survive the canon when Dos Passos is rarely mentioned?

>> No.3319241

>>3319188

>Muh system
>Muh sheeple
>Muh capitalist propaganda

>> No.3319255

>>3319240
Melville never disappeared, he was obscure as fuck until he was "rediscovered"

>> No.3319258

>>3319240
>when Dos Passos is rarely mentioned?
Odd, someone recommended me the USA trilogy today, I'd never heard of him before

>> No.3319282

>>3319178
Wrong: in modern society your parents' income is the main factor of how successful a person you are going to be.

>> No.3319288

>>3319240

Yeah, because at least if I keep my mouth shut i'll never be wrong.

I have the lost ending to Infinite Jest on my computer. It's a series of photographs of DFW giving the ol' finger to the camera, then a steaming pile of fecal matter on the last page.

>> No.3319316

>>3319241

>muh multicultural society
>muh individualism
>muh liberal propaganda

>> No.3319323

>>3319282
Your parents have high income because they're smart. Intelligence is largely hereditary.

The unterschicht consists of subhumans---deal with it, Marxist.

>> No.3319336

The Max biography is a pretty good book.

It's true that Max doesn't answer the central question - for me - of why Wallace, someone who professed to wanting a new sincerity, was often a phoney. That might be my fault though and the answer might be as banal as Wallace was a human and we're all pretty contradictory as individuals.

But the Max book is enjoyable. It's not a hagiography, thank god. He just lays out most of the facts, gives you good day to day detail, and lets you make up your own mind.

>> No.3319337

>>3319323
>Intelligence is largely hereditary.

Well done, now I just hope you weren't a racist, because you're gonna be guilty about this, or you're gonna wake up and realize intelligence is mainly genetic and DNA determines it (why Whites are more intelligent than Blacks).

>> No.3319345

>>3319336
>wanting a new sincerity, was often a phoney

When you want to be something you're not, you're always going to be a phoney.

>> No.3319352

>>3319336

Reactionary trendsetter.

>> No.3319372

>>3319323
Intelligence is poly-genetic.

That is not determined by a single gene but by a multiplicity. That is it's more about a particular combination than about simple transmission.

Kinda like height: average parents can have tall kids, and tall parents often have average kids. That's why most geniuses' kids are just average chaps.

But even more intelligence is mostly triggered by one's environment and how stimulant and varied it is.

So bottom line, I guess you are going to be poor.

>> No.3319616

>slept with his students

Lost all respect for him.

>> No.3319626

>>3319258

I heard of him and his USA trilogy, but no idea what it's about and if it's worth a damn. Someone tell us?

>> No.3319631

>>3319323
>telligence is largely hereditary.

>implying a high income has mostly to do with intelligence

If you're the child of a banker, I can guarantee that being retarded won't keep you from a well-paid position in daddy's company.

I know some highly intelligent working class folks. They build houses by day and read philosophy at night. (No, I don't, actually, but I know smart working class people all the same.)

>> No.3319642

William Wallace sounds like a little drama bitch who got an education because his parents paid for it. The bandana thing?

>look at me

Writing a retarded post-modernist farce?

>look at me

Having trouble living?

>suicide
>look at me

What a fucking fevered ego this whore was. Read OP's image made me hate him more than I thought I could. Who sleeps with his students? How can you trust such an asshole? Fucking pedophile.

>> No.3319663

>he was afraid of being ordinary

>thus he tried hard to be different, original

>so fucking edgy

>not realising everyone wants not to be ordinary

>weak

>> No.3319665

But, we know why he killed himself. It's because he knew he hadn't any talent.

>> No.3319668

>hating on DFW
>managing to be this edgy

>> No.3319670

>>3319668
Hating on DFW is a pretty common thing

>> No.3319672

get the feeling a lot of yall have a picture of harold bloom and scaruffi making out on your bedroom ceiling

>> No.3319675

>>3319668
>liking DFW
>being this preteen and deluded

>> No.3319677

>>3319668

>consider shit
>consider shit to be shit

>be called edgy

Even Harold Bloom thinks it's shit, how more common can you go? You can't.

Stephen King has more merit than Wallace. Wallace didn't even free Scotland.

>> No.3319932

>>3319642
How many authors that you like, who have taught at college level, who have probably fucked a student?
Odds are at 75%

>> No.3319942

>>3319094
The bio does go into his literary influences enough to make it interesting, a lot of his letters to DeLillo are in there, would rather see DD's replies but it's still worth reading if you like DFW.
There's a big part about how he felt guilty for perpetuating the 'indifference' that his stories embodied which was why he wrote about recovery in IJ, it was his attempt to offer a solution to the problem of shallow media culture.
And yes he was a liar and a phony, etc. but who cares - death of the author, duh. I don't require writers to uphold my moral standards.

>> No.3319944

>>3319932

He's right. Hell, even I fucked my teacher and i'm a guy.

>> No.3319945

>>3319616
Are you fucking kidding? He wasn't a high school teacher.

>> No.3319950

>>3319944
Good for you. There was a thread a few weeks ago where a few alleged college profs covered this subject at length. Shit happens.

>> No.3319955

>>3319616
he also racially abused a black student because she wrote in ebonics lel

>> No.3319958

I used to think DFW was just some lame-o nerd, but this biography actually makes him sound pretty bad ass.

>> No.3319960

>>3319955
I laughed at this. The essay was painful to read. Actually, most of DFW's essays are painful to read.

>> No.3319961

>>3319960

the brain is a muscle

>> No.3319962

>>3319955
Who do you read? Seriously, I want to know. Because you seem to have some fantastic requirements for writers you'll 'respect.'

>> No.3319964

>>3319945

...Why would that matter? Taking advantage of your students is deplorable even if you're not doing anything illegal.

>> No.3319966

>>3319961
Yeah, yeah. I know most of the kids who come here think "Consider the Lobster" is great. I blame the declining standards in education.

>> No.3319968

>>3319964

have you ever watched chinatown

>> No.3319971

>>3319968

No.

>> No.3319980

>>3319964
"Taking advantage"? What about consensual sexytimes? Adults are allowed to have sex, yo. (Not even defending DFW here, just saying in general.) Why so butthurt?

>> No.3319993

>>3319961

You're absolutely right, but if I were to take a very sharp knife and stab your brain repeatedly with it, is it a very constructive pain?

>> No.3319996

>>3319993

i wouldn' have to read your posts anymore so mabes

>> No.3319997

>>3319993
you what now?

>> No.3320009

>>3319980

He's in a position of power over them. It's unethical to exploit that situation. There's a reason why this sort of thing will get you fired.

>> No.3320018

>>3319996

Fine, if that would be the one joy that can be derived from your life. The greatest pain and pleasures for you, babe.

Then i'll take care of the remaining Infinite Jest copies. And the aborted college student fetuses.

>>3319997

Shh--sweet dreams now.

>> No.3320238

>writing with ballpoint pen
>2012

what a pleb

>> No.3320284
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3320284

>>3320238

son please

>> No.3320362
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3320362

>>3320284

still a pleb dad

>> No.3320379

>>3320009
>muh power structures
>muh unfair influence

People are always influenced by something. In fact, hypergamy is a trademark of female behavior.

>> No.3320385

>>3320362

when i autograph my instantly canonized debut for you i'll make it out to "told you so"

>> No.3320417

>>3320385

I don't read genre-fiction

>> No.3321552

can any of you fucktards supply an argument for why dfw was a phony in terms of his art and philosophy, aside from some of the banal details of his personal life (btw just because he said he was going to kill someone, DOESNT MEAN HE ACTUALLY KILLED SOMEONE).

go ahead. it would also be nice if anyone could provide a sufficient argument against his talent, since i'm pretty sure that he was 200x more talented than anyone who's posting in this thread

>> No.3321557

>>3319094
>Dr Pepper

EL. PSY. CONGROO

>> No.3321562
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3321562

>>3320417

>> No.3321563

>>3319626
It's worth it, I haven't read any DFW yet, but Dos Passos is no joke.

>> No.3322141

>>3319240
>Why did Sherwood Anderson survive the canon when Dos Passos is rarely mentioned?

I think he might have some political affiliations working against him. Also, his books have always sounded really boring to me.

>> No.3322148

>>3320362
Motherfucker you know nothing about the Pilot G-2, enjoy your stupid fountain fetish.