Paul Newman

I was very sorry to read this afternoon about the death of Paul Newman. Newman was without a doubt one of the greatest actors of his generation. One of my most interesting movie watching experiences was the 1961 film The Hustler, staring Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie. The film isn’t entirely successful, but what’s fascinating about it is the way it seems to be on the cusp of something new. The direction of the film seems to move back and forth from the stagey, more abstracted filmmaking of the first half of the century and the more realistic, vérité filmmaking that would come in with the French New Wave. Newman was right there.

David Foster Wallace

One of my favorite authors, David Foster Wallace, has apparently committed suicide. The article doesn’t speculate why, which is appropriate – who can possibly know? I obviously didn’t know Mr. Wallace except as an author of amazing skill and range. His gigantic 1996 novel, Infinite Jest is a great book, worthy of its comparisons to Pynchon and DeLillo. His essays, however, were equally accomplished, exploring subjects as diverse as lobsters, cruise ships and John McCain. That last essay, recently published in its own paperback volume, is really worth checking out. Wallace gets at the essential strangeness of McCain and the way he presents himself. It’s an excellent read.

It’s strange when people we don’t know, but have had an impact on us die. I’ve read a lot of Wallace’s writing. It’s meant a lot to me over the years. On a human level, I feel sorry for his wife and his family – but I didn’t know them, so that kind of sympathy can only be distant and general. But I did read his writing, and I do feel very sorry for the world that there won’t be any more.