david foster wallace

You are currently browsing articles tagged david foster wallace.

Our People

September 23, 2010 in management, strategy by George | No comments

If I think a person I work with should meet a specific person, I invariably say, “She’s one of us.”

If, on the other hand, I have to recommend avoidance of a certain person I say, “She is not our people.”

Both I and those to whom I’m giving my opinion know precisely what I mean.

Jan Wenner, upon seeing the iconic photo of the Infinite Jest-era David Foster Wallace (but before reading word one of DFW’s work) reportedly said, “Oh, he’s one of us.” He then dispatched a writer to profile Wallace.

I think we all know who “our people” are.[*]

Remember to build companies with and for these people.

Remember it’s ok to fire your employees and customer if they’re not one of you.

If you mis-judged (or, more likely, didn’t trust your initial instinct) and are working with the wrong person/serving the wrong customer, make a change fast. Doing so not only benefits you, but will allow the person you mis-judged to more quickly find his own people.

Speaking of “our people,” don’t forget to sign up for the 9GiantSteps email newsletter group. It’s a fantastic group of like-minded people to whom I send out SHORT email blasts presenting a digest of links and music of interest to our growing community.

[*]In an abundance of caution, and because I’m feeling sensitive, let me just say that it, of course, has nothing to do with age, gender, race or even political disposition. But, if you know me, you knew that.

Tags: , ,

David Foster Wallace’s “Consider The Lobster”

September 15, 2008 in cooking, worth reading by George | 1 comment

Here is the piece as published in Gourmet Magazine in August of 2004.

It’s a good introduction to Mr. Wallace’s writing.

Tags:

Harper’s Collection of David Foster Wallace’s Writing

September 15, 2008 in worth reading by George | No comments

All worth reading .

Posted by email from George’s posterous

Tags:

David Foster Wallace: 1962-2008

September 14, 2008 in readings that resonate, worth reading by George | No comments

Fuck.

Link.

Please Read:

This

and

This

and

This

I feel so sick.

Certainly the best writer of our generation.

A Supposedly Fun Thing… is probably my favorite of his books (though I love them all). I remember one Christmas Vacation where my family went to Telluride to go skiing together (a supposedly fun thing, right?) and, for a variety of reasons, it was an absolute nightmare…every day. My escape was to flee the family and hide out in the lodge and read A Supposedly Fun Thing. Those little hour or so vacations from the “vacation” were some of the happiest times I think I’ve ever spent. It was like DFW was there for me in the way that only the smartest, funniest person you’ve ever met can be…making you laugh and think and …for a little while… forget about the shit even while your mind was expanding. Dear Lord.

______

From the NYT (link above) obit:

“He had a mind that was constantly working on more cylinders than most people, but he was amazingly gentle and kind,” Mr. Pietsch said. “He was a writer who other writers looked to with awe.”

“He was like a lot of postmodern novelists, but braver.”

“He wrote showstoppers…He was brilliantly funny. People stayed with these long, complicated novels because they made them laugh.”

Quote from the LA Times obit:

“He is one of the main writers who brought ambition, a sense of play, a joy in storytelling and an exuberant experimentalism of form back to the novel in the late ’80s and early 1990s,” Ulin said. “And he really restored the notion of the novel as a kind of canvas on which a writer can do anything.”

“He was a fabulous teacher,” Kates said Saturday. “He was hands-on with his students. He cared deeply about them. . . . He was a jewel on the faculty, and we deeply appreciated everything he gave to the college.” [He had been teaching at Pomona College since 2002.]

_____

Anecdote found on Amazon about DFW (sort of jibes with my “vacation” story):

“…the kind of writing he’s after, unlike TV, or what we usually see there, doesn’t want anything from you. It’s there as a kind of open-ended offering, given to an anonymous recipient with a hopeful generosity that is a form of love.”

Tags:

Bad Behavior has blocked 1132 access attempts in the last 7 days.