http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/Colin%20McEnroe%20Show%2012-05-2011.mp3
Why are we doing a show about David Foster Wallace?
It's the kind of question Wallace himself would have enjoyed asking. He might have even made it a central issue in the show, returning to it over and over again, palpating it.
The simple answer is that we see Wallace and his work as having soaked into the fabric of the way a sub-set of the generation of people in their 20s and 30s think. We also think there are other people -- some of them in their 40s and 50s -- who don't know much about Wallace, but have gathered that they really ought to know something about him.
Meanwhile, his legend grows. There are prominent characters based on him in books by two of his friends, Jonathan Franzen and Jefferey Eugenides. His Kenyon graduation address is about to be emailed to you right now, by someone you know. And there may be subtler, more finely grained ways in which he touches you.
We'll discuss DFW's life and legacy today. Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.
