Erasmus fell in love with the loopy ten-minutes-in-the-future novel A Broom of the System in 1987, he thinks, and has read it at least twice. The protagonist, Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman, and her would-be swain, the microphallic Rick Vigorous (of Frequent & Vigorous) stick in his mind to this day. Wallace's later opus, the cyclopean Infinite Jest, was an exceptional work, if, like most modern fiction, neglectful of plot. All his writing was exceptionally well-crafted and enlivened with a rare wit and moral seriousness.
Wallace appears to have succumbed to the mortal sin of despair and has taken his own life. Pray for the repose of his soul.
Requiescat in pace.
