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Remembering David Foster Wallace's Dark Irony The author of Infinite Jest committed suicide at the age of 46. He was a brilliant observer of cultural "noise," explosively taking on topics ranging from mathematics to popular culture, says Madeleine Brand.

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Remembering David Foster Wallace's Dark Irony

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Madeleine Brand

Remembering David Foster Wallace's Dark Irony

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David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest, committed suicide at his home in Claremont, Calif. on Sept. 12. He was 46. Courtesy of Davidfosterwallace.com hide caption

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Courtesy of Davidfosterwallace.com

David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest, committed suicide at his home in Claremont, Calif. on Sept. 12. He was 46.

Courtesy of Davidfosterwallace.com

David Foster Wallace, the author of Infinite Jest, committed suicide on Friday, Sept. 12 at the age of 46. Foster Wallace was known as an explosive writer who cast his work with dark irony in subjects ranging from tennis to politics to mathematics to popular culture.

The 1997 MacCarther Genius Grant recipient had recently turned his attention toward teaching as a tenured professor at Pomona College in Southern California.

Read more and share your memories of Foster Wallace on Madeleine Brand's blog post here.

Correction Oct. 1, 2008

An earlier Web version of this story incorrectly said that David Foster Wallace was the author of "The Mistress's Daughter."