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The Ransom Center is a research library-- so yes, you can look through the collection, most of which is housed in separate folios (big legal-sized manilla multi-pocket folders) that have the documents. The archives are indexed and searchable online, and separated by which books they're parts of, or correspondence, or research for journalism projects, or whatever. It's been a while since I've been there, but it was a really great afternoon I spent looking through the works. My friend was looking at a draft of IJ, and I looked mostly at short stories and things relating to his Kenyon speech.
I took photographs of a bunch of different things I found interesting. Mostly of the original draft (much longer) of the Kenyon speech, and some other random notes and inscriptions I found in copies of books in his personal library. I hope that it's okay to post them here, and if not anyone in the know please let me know and I'll take down the link. That said, I think anyone who has a similar interest in his writing will find these interesting to look through. Enjoy, and shoot me a PM (or post here better yet) if you want to talk about what you find.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B66v9ICMwlwpem9jTThFMlJtVkk/edit?usp=sharing
Check out his bio by DT Max. It touches on some of Dave’s struggles early on and some of his thoughts on religion and such. A definite read if you’re becoming a huge fan.
O. stood there, he says, hefting a cold clod, playing with the Velcro on his puffy coat, watching as the Moms, bent way down to me, hand reaching, her lowering face with its presbyopic squint, suddenly stopped, froze, beginning to I.D. what it was I held out, countenancing evidence of oral contact with same.
countenance, verb 1. to support or encourage; sanction http://www.thefreedictionary.com/countenancing
It means that it's a first printing. I have a second printing first edition and the name is spelled correctly.
You can also check the printers marks on the copyright page. See http://www.abebooks.com/books/RareBooks/collecting-guide/what_books_collect/collecting-first-editions.shtml
I just searched on Amazon and it's the first thing that pops up.
Not trying to support anything that costs money, but I've loved this guy sinced the ol' List Serve days. A "compendium" to Oblivion, if anyone is interested. A lot of research done. Again, not hawking wares here, just making the link available.
https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Nightmare-Analyzing-Wallaces-Oblivion-ebook/dp/B00FJRPTZK
If he’s a fan, doesn’t he already own a copy of Infinite Jest? Does he have a digital copy? Or are you sure he doesn’t have a physical copy?
Here are two first editions of Infinite Jest that are in the UK, one signed and very pricey, the other one is 350 quid. That would be a beyond awesome gift for any DFW fan.
But if that’s a bit too much I would just go with one that is affordable and in the UK. They all kind of suck to be honest. They’re all ugly, have small print and are difficult to handle unless you break them in enough so you can read without holding the damn thing. Some of them have misprints where certain symbols aren’t printed right, it varies which editions do and don’t have the misprints. The 20th ann. ed. isn’t all that better than the normal budget ones.
Here is one new for 7 quid on amazon uk:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Infinite-Jest-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/0349121087
You could also add a complimentary gift, like a Cambridge companion to his work or his biography? Or does he have them already?
Are you serious? He graduated with two theses, both of which were distinguished with summa cum laude honors. The first was his manuscript for Broom of the System. The second was his thesis on modal logic, which was later published as Fate, Time, and Language. This thesis was also awarded a prestigious prize for the field, I believe.
The emphasis on David Foster Wallace was literally the worst thing about this great memoir about Adrienne Miller, who after she met Wallace, (or I should say, survived the aforementioned Wallace ) went on to publish Coast of Akron, which has over 18 reviews on Amazon. The Chicago Tribune praised Miller, calling her a "gifted ventriloquist" while Amazon reviewer, Grindel opined the debut novel was "possibly the worst book ever written in the English tongue". Boo!
Oh and here is the tweet Mary Karr tweeted on May 4th, 2018. I remember this day clearly because it was exactly 4 days before the launch of Mary Karr's book of poetry, Tropic of Squalor and had she not tweeted this incendiary allegation, I, and probably thousands of other people would have forgotten completely that she was about to publish a new book of poetry.
Yes, that's quite true. I often wish that they somehow filmed their daily life as a family and released those videos later so as to help me understand what his childhood was like, but of course that's more of a daydream. I just wish I could find out how to get into the mentality of one who is verbose and understanding of the english language. I feel like I'm missing something. Maybe I'm just trying to find a shortcut, in which case I should really continue reading my Cliffs Quick Review's Writing: Grammar, Usage, and Style as well as The Elements of Style and Verbal Advantage. I just need to do it.
Well, I am biased, but Elegant Complexity by Greg Carlisle. The book has character lists, a chronology, a map of ETA and some other fun stuff. It's structured like The Bloomsday Book (companion to Ulysses) so there is a summary of each section of the novel followed by a discussion of relevant themes. http://www.amazon.com/Elegant-Complexity-Foster-Wallaces-Infinite/dp/0976146533