suicide of, 298–301
sweating of, 64, 80, 273, 297
teaching of, 79–80, 84, 88, 97, 99–105, 112, 115–16, 133, 137, 148, 149, 151, 153, 154, 163, 173–76, 178, 180, 187–88, 191, 197–98, 230, 231, 233, 237–38, 251–52, 262, 266–67, 270–71, 284, 322n
therapy of, 22, 29, 33, 34, 117, 123, 136, 139, 149, 169–70, 177, 179, 181, 233, 283, 300
thesis help given by, 47, 52
travels of, 24, 52–53, 73–74, 78–79, 88, 105, 125, 163–64, 167, 196, 201–5, 244–45, 249–50, 252, 258–59, 262, 268, 269–70, 272–73, 290, 299
writer’s block of, 100–101, 102, 106, 111, 144, 145, 149, 154, 155, 234–38, 266, 292
writing style of, 34, 35, 142, 159, 171, 320n–21n
Wallace, David Rains, 66
Wallace, James, 1–8, 10–14, 20, 21, 22, 41, 58, 106, 112, 127, 232, 272, 282, 297, 312n, 318n, 324n
Amherst and, 13, 14, 16, 22, 25
David’s dependence on, 118
David’s depression and, 22, 33, 51, 116, 300
on Harvard, 316n
marriage of, 23, 28–29, 113, 314n
philosophy and, 1, 11, 25, 32, 41, 119, 133
religion and, 114, 316n
Wallace, Sally Foster, 1–8, 11–12, 20–25, 33, 47, 51, 58, 66, 106, 112, 137, 232, 272, 282, 297, 313n, 314n
care packages of, 17, 18
correct usage and, 2–3, 56–57, 165, 187, 271
on David’s anxiety, 12–13
David’s dependence on, 118
David’s depression and, 22, 33, 51, 53, 116, 117, 300
David’s estrangement from, 170, 187
David’s therapy and, 169, 170, 177, 181, 233
David’s work and, 177, 197, 211, 241–42, 321n
marriage of, 23–24, 28–29, 113, 169, 314n
religion and, 114, 316n
Wall Street Journal, 82–83, 315n
Washington, Corey, 21, 27–34, 42, 51–52, 224, 232
Wallace’s correspondence with, 28–34, 37, 41, 43, 53–56, 67, 74, 77, 79, 80, 101, 105, 112, 176–79, 227, 259, 314n
Washington Post, 143, 219, 276
Welty, Eudora, 102, 103
“Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way” (Wallace), 89–94, 96, 98–102, 104, 108, 109, 130, 131, 159, 160, 214, 241, 315n
as phoenix, 135
reading of, 105
theft of, 98
White, Curtis, 174, 267
White Noise (DeLillo), 225–26
“Whiz Kid and His Wacky First Novel, A” (profile), 82–83
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 32, 44–47, 65, 68, 126, 288, 312n, 313n, 315n
Wittgenstein’s Mistress (Markson), 120–23, 126, 128, 142, 172, 174, 253
Wodehouse, P. G., 189, 207
Wood, James, 228–29, 264–65
Workshop Hermeticism, 110–11
Wright, Evan, 245, 323n
Wurtzel, Elizabeth, 202–3, 220, 224–25, 241, 269, 320n, 324n
W. W. Norton, 117, 120, 128, 131, 138, 171, 260
Yaddo, 136, 317n
Wallace at, 88–89, 94–99, 101, 103, 125–28, 131, 142, 158, 159, 160, 179, 314n
Zenith, MV (the Nadir), 202–5
Zipper, the, 185, 186
Zumbyes, 59, 313n