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Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

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Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#11

Post by otteromkram »

Love DFW's Kenyon College commencement speech, but he wasn't all sunshine and rainbows[0]:

> In the early 1990s, Wallace was in a relationship with writer Mary Karr. She later described Wallace as obsessive about her and said the relationship was volatile, with Wallace once throwing a coffee table at her as well as physically forcing her out of a car, leaving her to walk home. Years later, she claimed that Wallace's biographer D. T. Max underreported Wallace's abuse. Of Max's account of their relationship, she tweeted: "That's about 2% of what happened." She said that Wallace kicked her, climbed up the side of her house at night, and followed her five-year-old son home from school.

Reference: [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foster_Wallace#Abuse_all...

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#12

Post by markgall »

krelian wrote: post #10
markgall wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not aware of any, but maybe somebody else is. A more general question is are there any other DFW-ish math-ish writings to be found? Against The Day (Pynchon) is not really math-ish, but it does have a good bit of math (more than GR at least), and a DFW fan would probably like it. Stella Maris (McCarthy) is perhaps neither DFW-ish nor math-ish, but it is Serious Fiction centered on a mathematician and is probably…

You'll probably enjoy When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut.

Oh, good idea! I read The Maniac but not that one, and the former should be on my list too.

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#13

Post by vundercind »

markgall wrote: post #6
lordleft wrote: post #2

Here is the book on Infinity DFW penned: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-More-Compact-History-Infin...

This should be read in parallel with the review by Michael Harris in the AMS Notices: "A Sometimes Funny Book Supposedly about Infinity" https://www.ams.org/notices/200406/rev-harris.pdf As a DFW lover whose day job is as a mathematician... that book's a clunker.

I feel less-bad about not having finished it now.

I was doing fine until formulas started showing up more than very-occasionally. I’m basically dyslexic when equations enter the picture.

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#14

Post by np_tedious »

otteromkram wrote: post #11

Love DFW's Kenyon College commencement speech, but he wasn't all sunshine and rainbows[0]: > In the early 1990s, Wallace was in a relationship with writer Mary Karr. She later described Wallace as obsessive about her and said the relationship was volatile, with Wallace once throwing a coffee table at her as well as physically forcing her out of a car, leaving her to walk home. Years later, she claimed that Wallace's…

There is another big reason not to call him "sunshine and rainbows"

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#15

Post by passion__desire »

np_tedious wrote: post #14
otteromkram wrote: post #11

Love DFW's Kenyon College commencement speech, but he wasn't all sunshine and rainbows[0]: > In the early 1990s, Wallace was in a relationship with writer Mary Karr. She later described Wallace as obsessive about her and said the relationship was volatile, with Wallace once throwing a coffee table at her as well as physically forcing her out of a car, leaving her to walk home. Years later, she claimed that Wallace's…

There is another big reason not to call him "sunshine and rainbows"

[flagged]

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#16

Post by llamaimperative »

passion__desire wrote: post #15
np_tedious wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is another big reason not to call him "sunshine and rainbows"

[flagged]

Wallace had depression and anxiety since adolescence (i.e. well before any reported psychedelic use). Pretty inappropriate and irresponsible framing you've picked here!

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#17

Post by will-burner »

lordleft wrote: post #2

Here is the book on Infinity DFW penned: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-More-Compact-History-Infin...

I'm surprised by the mathematician's critiques of this book. I have a PhD in math and I read this book about 10 years ago now. I loved it. I'm sure there are some inaccuracies, but he gets the overall story correct. There's enough math in the book to be engaging for someone mathematically trained. There's also a lot more history than if you read a math book that just has proofs. And the book is entertaining in the way that DFW's books usually are. As a former mathematician I highly recommend.

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#18

Post by lukas099 »

jawjay wrote: post #4
lordleft wrote: post #2

Here is the book on Infinity DFW penned: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-More-Compact-History-Infin...

Such a great book. Do you know if he there is any other DFW math-ish writings to be found? All my searches thus far have turned up naught.

Endnote 123 in Infinite Jest

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#19

Post by will-burner »

markgall wrote: post #6
lordleft wrote: post #2

Here is the book on Infinity DFW penned: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-More-Compact-History-Infin...

This should be read in parallel with the review by Michael Harris in the AMS Notices: "A Sometimes Funny Book Supposedly about Infinity" https://www.ams.org/notices/200406/rev-harris.pdf As a DFW lover whose day job is as a mathematician... that book's a clunker.

Michael Harris is a great mathematician (number theory, let's go!!), but that review to me is pretty rambling and doesn't point out many inaccuracies in DFW's book, but takes issue with DFW's approach and style or writing. I did just skim the review and am a DFW fanboy, but Harris seems to have issues with books about infinity and math for lay people, which is fine, that's driving his opinions here.

I'd imagine there will also be a gap between what mathematician's think of novelists writing and what novelists think of real math. So there's that too.

Re: Infinite Proofs: The Effects of Mathematics on David Foster Wallace (2012)

#20

Post by heraldgeezer »

I loved the movie "The end of the tour" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416744/

Would like to read but I dont know math.

I am also too addicted. I have had a book on my shelf for 2 years unread.

I listen to 1h of audio book and I love it and then I stop and loose the plot.

oh well.

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