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Um, the guy just killed himself, and the only thing you have to say is that we should go read his articles and book? Hello? Did I miss something here?

Oh, marrow! I am so jealous right now. So Jealous. So very, very jealous. It looks lovely. Thanks for posting this one. Especially the marrow. (I'm going to the butcher now.)

It's a bummer that Consider The Lobster is getting so much attention on food sites, because it's really kind of reprehensible. --And Mr. Wallace had a ton of writing that was much, much better. Check out The Haphazard Gourmet Girls, to hear what's really going on in Consider The Lobster:
http://haphazardgourmet.blogspot.com/2008/09/supposedly-fun-thing-well-never-do.html

pourgirl - slightly agree with you. I went to university where Wallace taught, and though many of my English major colleagues worshiped him, I also thought Wallace was extremely self-righteous (and as for self-referential, well, he footnotes himself in his books). However that is part of his genius - almost like Hemingway, a person I would never enjoy being around, but whose writing I like precisely because of this.

I was sorry to read of this author's death. But if we're discussing his writing, I thought that "Consider the Lobster" was a self-righteous, self-referential slam of the Maine Lobster Fesival. I'm not from Maine and almost never eat lobster, and I came to the piece (which ran in Gourmet) with an open mind. But it seemed like Wallace had no affinity for the event he was supposedly covering, and his contemputous attitude left me with no interest in reading anything else that he wrote.
HIs death is a tragedy, but I can't join the universal acclaim for his writing.

@Banannah: No apology necessary. I didn't take it too harshly. You're probably right. I think because I was writing quickly, I didn't treat DFW with as much thought as I probably would have with more time on my hands. I've hardly read any DFW (but just purchased A Supposedly Fun Thing ... and am catching up), but what I wanted to get across was "Here is an amazingly renown American literary talent who passed from the scene far too early. I assume there are many DFW fans among the readers of Serious Eats, and I know how it feels when a favorite author dies. I wanted to acknowledge his death here and highlight his food-related works—as a reminder to current fans and as a starting point for food-minded, would-be DFW readers." Thanks for taking the time to comment. I'm sorry this seemed glib.

@ArtoriusRex: You're right. I should have linked to DFW's Wikipedia page and an obit in a newspaper. I was in a hurry to get this blogged and get on with my weekend, as you guessed. Anyway, after seeing your comment, I linked to his Wikipedia page and the obit, which I believe is enough background for Serious Eats. If properly linked (and I admit this item was not properly linked when you first saw it), you have the option to click out and gather background outside the scope of the SE post, if you are just coming to the story for the first time. We are primarily about the food, so we are going to blog something like this from a food angle (as we have in previous obits). We do like to acknowledge what's going on in the world at large and pay tribute to people whose work we've enjoyed—as long as we can tie it to food.

@Banannah: See above. I think cheeseburger, thatgrrl, and NYminknit give the reaction I would have given. I could have been more sensitive in the copy and expressed condolences, but apart from that, we don't really go much into cause of death, etc. Our operating principle in our "obits" is to highlight the food goodness that the decedent brought to the world.