96 “Who’s Who in the Cosmos 1987,” Esquire, August 1987.
98 “like, a week,” from Patrick Arden, “David Foster Wallace Warms Up,” Book Magazine, 1999.
98 “I’m sure page for page,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 20, 1987.
98 “in my view far and away” and “If the story seems pretentious,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13–14, 1989.
99 “I actually cried in front,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 20, 1987.
99 “like a real person,” from a letter by Dale Peterson, August 7, 1987.
100 “less seedstrewn accommodations,” from a letter by Dale Peterson, July 27, 1987.
100 “Her little ticker didn’t,” from a letter by Dale Peterson, August 7, 1987.
100 “a horror show,” from the McCaffery interview.
100 “I wanted something,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13–14, 1989.
101 “a kind of suicide note,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 61.
101 “picked up a bit,” from a letter to JT Jackson, September 20, 1987.
101 “not really all that nice,” from a letter to Corey Washington, September 25, 1987.
101 “I’m squatting amid boxes,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 2, 1987.
101 “Please please get me,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, September 20, 1987.
103 “I’m basically on my own,” from a letter to Forrest Ashby, September 13, 1987.
103 “The view from my apartment,” from a letter to a freind, November 9, 1987.
104 “just so unbelievably bad,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 62.
104 “I’ve hurt not just me,” from a letter to a friend, November 9, 1987.
105 “gorgeous new poetesses,” from a letter to JT Jackson, September 20, 1987.
105 “I think I’ve again,” from a letter to Forrest Ashby, February 8, 1988.
105 “too hung over,” from a letter to Corey Washington, February 8, 1988.
106 “Much fiction,” from a letter by Alice Turner, April 29, 1988.
107 “p. 148 David,” from a letter to Gerry Howard, April 25, 1988.
109 “They didn’t even think,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 225.
109 “daunting…but that obviously,” from a letter to Steven Moore, October 26, 1987.
112 “I miss the heat,” from a letter to Corey Washington, May 17, 1988.
113 “I’m enclosing a small,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, September 5, 1988.
115 “I’m having a lot of trouble,” from a letter to Jonathan Galassi, June 21, 1988.
116 “remote,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, September 11, 1988.
116 “By now I expect maybe you’ve heard,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, October 23, 1988.
117 “They were unpleasant,” from a letter to Rich C., December 30, 1988.
117 “Isn’t it a marvelous feeling,” from a letter by Gerry Howard, December 21, 1988.
118 “far and away the worst,” from a letter to Rich C., December 30, 1988.
118 “I have only very recently,” from a letter to Steven Moore, January 18, 1989.
118 “Personally I love sending,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, February 9, 1989.
119 “I figure if I ever,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, March 7, 1989.
119 “95 % Portuguese and Brazilian,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 2, 1989.
120 “It’s lovely and crowded” and “I may well be,” from a letter to Steven Moore, April 17, 1989.
121 “the exact part of my nose,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 1, 1989.
123 “Boston is fun,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, May 26, 1989.
123 “fuck strangers,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 63.
123 “I’m bogged down,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 2, 1989.
124 “You’d be surprised,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, May 11, 1989.
125 “Alice has been marvelous,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, May 26, 1989.
125 “was not meant to carry,” from a letter to Steven Moore, August 18, 1989.
125 “Stay Fly, and Shit,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, July 5, 1989.
126 “The thing I like about,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 12, 1989.
126 “carve out two days,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 25, 1989.
126 “Fine prep. For the innumerable,” from a letter to Steven Moore, August 18, 1989.
127 “looking into celibatee,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 22, 1989.
127 “Thank God I don’t,” from a letter to Kathe Burkhart, August 1, 1989.
127 “You seem doomed,” from a letter to Kathe Burkhart, August 24, 1989.
127 “toddle off with my Get Smart,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, undated, circa summer 1989.
127 “intro german plus,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 12, 1989.
128 “short journalistic version,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 22, 1989.
128 “horribly long,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, August 22, 1989.
128 “This magazine is way,” from a letter by Alice Turner, July 5, 1989.
128 “confusion, misunderstanding, deception,” from a letter to Alice Turner, July 11, 1989.
128 “I must say,” from a letter by Alice Turner, July 17, 1989.
128 “too much impressed,” from Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 1989.
128 “a real brown helmet,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, July 3, 1989.
128 “a dynamic writer of extraordinary talent,” from Jenifer Levin, “Love Is a Federal Highway,” New York Times, November 5, 1989.
129 “What is the fiction writer,” from an essay in Wigwag, republished in Sven Birkerts, American Energies (New York: Random House, 1994).
129 “A lot of it is like being,” from a letter to Steven Moore, September 5, 1989.
130 “the best young writer going,” from a letter to Steven Moore, May 1, 1989.
130 “simply separates sock from pod,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 2, 1989.
130 “more than a bubble,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, May 25, 1989.
130 “By merely abstracting,” from a letter by Jonathan Franzen, July 22, 1989.
131 “This Jonathan Franzen guy,” from a letter to Steven Moore, August 25, 1989.
131 “sentimental pretentious pseudo-autobiographical,” and “extensively explained dislike,” from a letter to Jonathan Franzen, August 13/14, 1989.
132 “The book is not yet out,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, November 1, 1989.
132 “a kind of shrill,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 229.
132 “This book is dying,” inscription in book for Rich C., October 17, 1989.
133 “as though the entire,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 68.
134 “The lovely medical staff,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, October 30, 1989.
Chapter 5: “Please Don’t Give Up on Me”
135 “Armageddon,” from the McCaffery interview.
136 “hard-core recidivist” and “I am getting booted,” from a letter to Bonnie Nadell, November 28, 1989.
138 “every bad ’60s novel,” from Lipsky, Although of Course, at 233.
138 “Give me a little time,” from a letter to Steven Moore, January 3, 1990.
138 “I’m not going anywhere,” from a letter to Brad Morrow, December 18, 1989.
138 “I am” and “Most of the guys,” from a letter to Dale Peterson, December 21, 1989.