NP (but DFW): How Literature can change your life....

[Mark Kohut]

--- On Mon, 9/22/08, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
> Subject: How Literature can change your life....
> To: 
> Date: Monday, September 22, 2008, 8:09 AM
> Michael W (city_of_walls) wrote,
> @ 2008-09-21 18:07:00
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From Jonathan Carroll's Blog
> Of the many words written about David Foster Wallace after
> his death,
> I like these the most. They're from McSweeney's
> Magazine. Those of you
> unfamiliar with his work, Wallace was most famous for a
> novel entitled
> INFINITE JEST, a difficult and manic 1000 page hunk of a
> book that you
> either loved or hated. Many people lied about having
> actually read it.
> It's the kind of novel quite a few bought, never
> opened, but left out
> on the coffee table to impress visitors.
> 
> I never met the man, but to Mr. David Wallace I owe my
> current
> situation in life. And he left a pretty funny voicemail. My
> wife and I
> have a mutual friend who several years ago realized that we
> were the
> only two people he knew who had completed Infinite Jest. On
> her side,
> she had implored him to find someone with whom she could
> discuss the
> book so she could ask the question she'd been dying to
> ask such a
> person, Was it worth it? On my side, we were driving to a
> ski trip,
> discussing books, and he mentioned Pynchon. Of course
> Wallace came up.
> He asked if I had read Infinite Jest; I said, Yes. He
> stared at me in
> the rearview mirror and said, I know someone who will sleep
> with you.
> Nine months later (these wheels turn slowly), he brought us
> together
> at a Halloween party. I walked in early and she was already
> there.
> Mike introduced us—Steve, Karen, Karen, Steve, Infinite
> Jest, go—and
> walked off. I talked about it for a minute or two, then
> said, Yeah, I
> liked it, but it probably wasn't worth it. The rest is,
> as they say,
> history.
> 
> Except. There's more: the voicemail. Karen and I fell
> in love, got
> engaged on the side of a mountain, and planned a shindig.
> At the
> reception, among all the toasts, a family friend stands up
> with a tape
> player. She recounts the tale. She turns on the player.
> David Foster
> Wallace is saying, Uh, um, this is really a strange and
> almost
> horrifying thing, but I hear that a couple, Steve and
> Karen, are
> joining themselves in holy matrimony because of my book? He
> goes on to
> give a funny, rambling, beautiful benediction that
> we'll always
> treasure.
> 
> So, Mr. David Foster Wallace, thank you for the
> possibly-not-worth-it
> tome, dozens of incredible essays, a heartfelt voice from
> beyond, and
> a beautiful life with my wife and little boy.
> 
> —Steve Beeson
> 
> 
> -- 
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