“Like most North Americans of his generation, Hal tends to know way less about why he feels certain ways about the objects and pursuits he's devoted to than he does about the objects and pursuits themselves. It's hard to say for sure whether this is even exceptionally bad, this tendency.”

American writer and professor

David Foster Wallace was an American writer and professor. He published novels, short stories, and essays, and is best known for his 1996 novel, Infinite Jest. His work spans fiction and nonfiction, and he became especially noted for the range and ambition of his writing. In 2008, David Ulin of the Los Angeles Times described Wallace as one of the most influential and innovative writers of the previous twenty years.