Photo: Steve Rhodes / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
David Foster Wallace, born on February 21, 1962 in Ithaca, New York, United States, was a writer, novelist and essayist. David Foster Wallace died on September 12, 2008, aged 46. Education on record includes Urbana High School and Amherst College. Listed accolades include MacArthur Fellows Program, Lannan Literary Awards (1996) and Whiting Awards (1987). Credited works include Infinite Jest, The Pale King and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
My Take
David Foster Wallace is one of those writers who genuinely rewired how a generation thinks about fiction, irony, and what it even means to be alive inside media-saturated late-20th-century America. Infinite Jest is a beast — nearly 1,100 pages with footnotes that practically constitute a second novel — but the madness is the point: he was trying to build a form capacious enough to hold the entire anxious, entertained-to-death consciousness of his era. His essays might be even better, honestly. The cruise ship piece, the state fair piece, the tennis writing — all of them crackle with this almost painful intelligence that somehow never tips into cold cleverness. He died in 2008 at 46, and the loss still stings. The Pale King came out posthumously, unfinished, and even incomplete it showed he had more to say than most writers manage in a full career.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- David Foster Wallace
- Name (Japanese)
- デヴィッド・フォスター・ウォレス
- Reading
- でゔぃっど・ふぉすたー・うぉれす
- Born
- February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Tiger
- Origin
- Ithaca, New York, United States
- Occupation
- writer / novelist / essayist / university teacher
2. Background
- High school
- Urbana High School
- University
- Amherst College
Awards & achievements
- MacArthur Fellows Program
- 1996 Lannan Literary Awards
- 1987 Whiting Awards
3. Works & records
Filmography / notable works
| Category | Title |
|---|---|
| Notable work | Infinite Jest |
| Notable work | The Pale King |
| Notable work | A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again |
| Notable work | Brief Interviews with Hideous Men |
| Notable work | The Broom of the System |
| Notable work | Everything and More |
4. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.davidfosterwallacebooks.com
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David%20Foster%20Wallace
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A3%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A9%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A9%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q313246
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was David Foster Wallace born?
Born February 21, 1962.
When did David Foster Wallace die?
Died September 12, 2008, aged 46.
Where was David Foster Wallace from?
David Foster Wallace was from Ithaca, New York, United States.
What did David Foster Wallace do?
David Foster Wallace worked as writer, novelist, essayist, university teacher.
What was David Foster Wallace known for?
Notable works include Infinite Jest, The Pale King, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
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