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Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of…
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Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace (original 2012; edition 2012)

by D. T. Max

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
6912832,821 (3.72)1 / 50
"The first biography of the most influential writer of his generation, David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace was the leading literary light of his era, a man who not only captivated readers with his prose but also mesmerized them with his brilliant mind. In this, the first biography of the writer, D. T. Max sets out to chart Wallace's tormented, anguished and often triumphant battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, Infinite Jest. Since his untimely death by suicide at the age of forty-six in 2008, Wallace has become more than the quintessential writer for his time--he has become a symbol of sincerity and honesty in an inauthentic age. In the end, as Max shows us, what is most interesting about Wallace is not just what he wrote but how he taught us all to live. Written with the cooperation of Wallace's family and friends and with access to hundreds of his unpublished letters, manuscripts, and audio tapes, this portrait of an extraordinarily gifted writer is as fresh as news, as intimate as a love note, as painful as a goodbye. "-- "The first biography of the renowned American author David Foster Wallace. Wallace was on of the most innovative and influential authors of the last twenty-five years. A writer whose distinctive style and example had a huge impact on the culture and helped give meaning to his generation in a disorienting, distressing time. In this first in-depth biography, journalist D.T. Max captures Wallace's compelling, turbulent life and times--his genius, his struggle to stay sane and happy in a difficult world, his anxiety and loneliness--as well as why he mattered as a writer and a human being"--… (more)
Member:dchaikin
Title:Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace
Authors:D. T. Max
Info:New York : Viking (Kindle) c2012
Collections:Your library, All Non-Children's Books, My Books, ebooks, Read
Rating:*****
Tags:2012, Biography, Literary Criticism, ebook, Kindle, American Author, New Jersey Author, @from LT wishlist, LT-Inspired, DFW prep, @correct cover, @from amazon.com, @DHC, Read, read_2013, 2013 Favorites, Decade Best 2010’s, acquired_2012

Work Information

Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace by D.T. Max (Author) (2012)

  1. 00
    Understanding David Foster Wallace (Understanding Contemporary American Literature) by Marshall Boswell (absurdeist)
    absurdeist: Digs deeper into DFWs writing, circa 1985-1999, published almost a decade before he died. Commentary of his career unshadowed by his suicide.
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 Infinite Jesters: DFW biography18 unread / 18absurdeist, December 2012

» See also 50 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 28 (next | show all)
This book gets three stars because of its subject. Mr. Max is a little too eager to make connections between reality and fiction and bit feels showoff-y (look, I found another one!).

He had great access to friends and family, but it feels rushed, all the same.

Still, it's nice to read about DFW, just as The Pale King was a joy to read even if it was incomplete. ( )
  bookwrapt | Mar 31, 2023 |
The book is so acritical as to be almost worrying. Nothing about Wallace is given attention or care, even when the author is relating episodes that are, quite frankly, worrying in terms of ethics and law. Wallace's relationship with Mary Karr is a perfect example of this problem—Wallace's obsession with her, as related in these pages, seems to border on psychotic, but the details of it are related by the author with the same gravitas and consideration as reports of his college class schedule. I'm not saying that D. T. Max should demonize Wallace or anything like that, but that such a human figure deserves a deeper analysis than is given by this author/book. ( )
  AuroraCH | Oct 15, 2022 |
While the writing and depth of the biography will disappoint some readers, there's enough here to find joy and inspiration. I assume most readers of this bio are fans of DFW. Speaking as one of those fans, I'll take anything I can get and probably enjoy it. ( )
  ProfH | Sep 22, 2022 |
Very mixed personal feelings--but, as the only Wallace biography out there it is definitely the trove of information expected (and more). Eye-opening to see the extent of Wallace's mental demons; saddening to see the effects of those troubles manifested and exacerbated by substance abuse. Still astounding to see how such troubled/tortured/unsavory people can produce such sublime art. The prose is clunky, sure, but that wasn't a goal of a book like this so I disregard the style and consider the data. The research and effort here are extraordinary. ( )
1 vote chrisvia | Apr 29, 2021 |
Wallace's life story is tragically fascinating, though I was entranced by the story itself, and not necessarily the writing style of the biographer.

I have attempted to read Wallace's fiction and non-fiction, with a preference for the latter, since I fear that his fiction is on a completely different plane from the one that I usually inhabit. ( )
  resoundingjoy | Jan 1, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 28 (next | show all)
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"The first biography of the most influential writer of his generation, David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace was the leading literary light of his era, a man who not only captivated readers with his prose but also mesmerized them with his brilliant mind. In this, the first biography of the writer, D. T. Max sets out to chart Wallace's tormented, anguished and often triumphant battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, Infinite Jest. Since his untimely death by suicide at the age of forty-six in 2008, Wallace has become more than the quintessential writer for his time--he has become a symbol of sincerity and honesty in an inauthentic age. In the end, as Max shows us, what is most interesting about Wallace is not just what he wrote but how he taught us all to live. Written with the cooperation of Wallace's family and friends and with access to hundreds of his unpublished letters, manuscripts, and audio tapes, this portrait of an extraordinarily gifted writer is as fresh as news, as intimate as a love note, as painful as a goodbye. "-- "The first biography of the renowned American author David Foster Wallace. Wallace was on of the most innovative and influential authors of the last twenty-five years. A writer whose distinctive style and example had a huge impact on the culture and helped give meaning to his generation in a disorienting, distressing time. In this first in-depth biography, journalist D.T. Max captures Wallace's compelling, turbulent life and times--his genius, his struggle to stay sane and happy in a difficult world, his anxiety and loneliness--as well as why he mattered as a writer and a human being"--

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