139 “a motorhead from the South Shore,” from a letter to David Markson, July 29, 1990.
139 “It’s a rough crowd,” “I try hard to listen,” and “I’m scared,” from a letter to Rich C., December 21, 1989.
140 “They gave me Librium,” from a letter to Rich C., August 24, 2000.
141 “nobody is as gregarious,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 138.
141 “going from Harvard to here,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, December 21, 1989.
142 “I think part of why WM” and “one a vapid gushy,” from a letter to Steven Moore, January 3, 1990.
143 “The bald fact,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 1, 1990.
144 “some laffs and companionship,” from a letter by Jonathan Franzen, May 5, 1990.
144 “a kind of a ripping” and “the humble, unpaid work,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 21, 1990.
145 “[f]iction for me is a conversation,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13–14, 1989.
145 “I’d love to hear more,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 21, 1990.
146 “so blank and depressed,” from a letter to David Markson, June 7, 1990.
146 “I cannot sit still,” from a letter to David Markson, July 29, 1990.
148 “a hip kids’ college,” from a letter to David Markson, October 18, 1990.
148 “Teaching is going OK,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 9, 1990.
148 “We spend most of our time,” from a letter to David Markson, October 18, 1990.
149 “rather like asking the Consul,” from a letter to David Markson, July 29, 1990.
149 “would be ‘sumptuous,’” from a letter to David Markson, October 18, 1990.
149 “They’re all ‘television’ majors,” from a letter to David Markson, January 6, 1991.
149 “I want to start trying,” from a letter to Steven Moore, November 20, 1990.
151 “I’ve gone from thinking,” from a letter to Steven Moore, October 26, 1990.
151 “I am the best copyeditor,” from a letter to Steven Moore, November 20, 1990.
151 “couldn’t even take,” from a letter to Steven Moore, December 14, 1990.
151 “every shred of will,” from a letter to David Markson, April 21, 1991.
152 “flat and strained,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, November 5, 1990.
152 “The people I’ve known there,” from a note to Jonathan Franzen, April 21, 1991.
152 “I think that eventually,” from a letter by Jonathan Franzen, July 22, 1991.
152 “I finally told Mary,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 7, 1991.
152 “Nothing is new,” from a letter to Fred Brooke, June 27, 1991.
153 “The apartment is strange,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, October 4, 1991.
153 “back to back in the afternoon,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, October 4, 1991.
154 “Please don’t give up on me,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, Spring 1991.
155 “slowly trying some fictional stuff,” from a letter to Forrest Ashby, August 8, 1991.
155 “writing quite a bit and enjoying it,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, August 23, 1991.
157 “mostly just to see what you think,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 19, 1990.
158 “decided that maybe being really sad,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 237.
158 “The key to ’92 is that MMK was most important,” from the marginalia in Wallace’s copy of Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection.
158 “The writing is going,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa spring 1992.
162 “the bravest thing,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 241.
162 “Life is good,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, February 29, 1992.
162 “a novel,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell and Gerry Howard, April 5, 1992.
163 “one of the scariest days,” from a letter to Deb Larson, December 6, 1993.
163 “this soot-fest city,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, February 29, 1992.
164 “best of pals and lit combatants,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 8, 1992.
164 “among the most nourishing for me,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, April 10, 1992.
164 “Syracuse,” from a letter to Debra Spark, May 27, 1992.
165 “make me feel both unalone and unstressed,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 8, 1992.
166 “If words are all we have,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, July 15, 1992.
166 “I simply have to pound,” and “it’s awfully pretty here,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, June 8, 1992.
167 “The Era of Skulking seems,” from a letter to Debra Spark, August 19, 1992.
167 “movies where shit blew up,” quoted in Evan Hughes, “Just Kids,” New York, October 9, 2011.
167 “I want you to know that I AM here,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa 1992.
169 “so much hidden pain and lying,” from a letter to Mary Karr, circa January 22, 1992.
169 “it heals too,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa spring 1992.
170 “terrible temper-outbursts,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 12, 1992.
170 “MARRY ME,” from a letter to Mary Karr, undated, circa fall 1992/winter 1993.
171 “gut instinct (I have so few gut instincts…),” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, June 22, 1992.
172 “a…go-for-the-gold-type,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, June 30, 1992.
172 “Brains and wit and technical tightrope-calisthenics,” from a letter to Michael Pietsch, June 22, 1992.
173 “My notion about Mark Leyner,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, July 8, 1992.
173 “I am both bogged down,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 12, 1992.
173 “My whole nervous system,” from a letter to Alice Turner, December 11, 1995.
174 “I alert you in advance,” from a letter to Charlie Harris, December 26, 1992.
175 “Full-time writing is going OK,” from a letter to Debra Spark, undated, circa winter 1992/spring 1993.
176 “upping it to three or four,” from a letter to Charlie Harris, April 5, 1993.
176 “a certain icky sense about availing myself,” from a letter to Don DeLillo, March 14, 1993.
176 “the least weird writer there,” from a letter to Corey Washington, March 2, 1993.
176 “The chairman is a dreamboat,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, February 28, 1993.
Chapter 6: “Unalone and Unstressed”
177 “different masculine-model cars,” from a letter to Corey Washington, March 2, 1993.
178 “sardonic worldview perfect for the irony-filled nineties,” from a letter to Steven Moore, April 10, 1993.
178 “polite and banal”, from a letter to Corey Washington, April 16, 1993.
178 “Take this time to learn to be,” from a letter to Brandon Hobson, March 31, 1993.
178 “Even a marginal,” from a letter to Corey Washington, April 16, 1993.
180 to the “john,” from a letter to a friend, March 13, 1998.
180 “I’m having to countenance,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 12, 1992.
180 “Unpacking, trying to write,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, August 17, 1993.
181 “off sex,” from a letter to Linda Perla, October 15, 1993.
182 “You ask what I think it’s about,” and “Almost everything,” from a letter by Michael Pietsch, June 10, 1993.
186 “here’s-what-I-think,” from “Finite Jest,” Slate, September 17, 2008.
189 “It’s just much easier having dogs,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 97.