one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years. 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. And he really restored the notion of the novel as a kind of canvas on which a writer can do anything."

Amy, while you might not want to start Infinite Jest - only slightly shorter than the OED! - I highly recommend picking up the collection of essays I mentioned on my blog, "A Supposedly Fun Thing...". The title essay, as well as the visit to the state fair, are amazing. I've read all those essays, and they are all genius.

Iprofiled him for the Tribune back in early 1996 when his brilliant, prescient 1,000-plus-page novel "Infinite Jest" was being hailed as a masterwork.

Wallace, who grew up in Urbana, was teaching at Illinois State University in Normal at the time and was wary of what all of the acclaim might do to him.

He told me that after his first burst of fame that followed the publication of his debut novel, "The Broom of the System" (1987), and the short-story collection "Girl With Curious Hair" (1989), he'd entered a hospital and asked to be put on suicide watch.

"In a weird way it seemed like there was something very American about what was going on, that things were getting better and better for me in terms of all the stuff I