I just learned the news this evening. David Foster Wallace committed suicide Saturday. Why am I just hearing about it today? Oh, yeah, I do live in a cave.

I read "Infinite Jest" a few years ago, and it immediately became one of my favorite books ever. It's a very sad and very hilarious book. And the writing scared me, it was so good. I have yet to read any of his other books, but I often take "Infinite Jest" off my shelf and re-read passages. It's all about knowing when to ask for help and never trying to pull a weight greater than yourself. And I wonder if that's what happened with DFW, if he tried to pull a weight greater than himself and succumbed to it rather than ask for help. I don't know; I know very little about his personal life. I only know that he was way too young and way too brilliant to leave so soon. Anyone who can create characters like Don Gately and Hal and Mario Incandenza, write all that great dialogue, and keep me company and keep me entertained for over a thousand pages deserves a long, fulfilling career.

And tonight I am sad, very sad.