An unnecessary but inevitable biography of the late DFW, one of my favorite writers and arguably one of the most important voices in contemporary fiction. Although there are some small surprises for DFW fans in these 300 pages, I could not brush off the central tragedy of this biography: in Max's hands, DFW himself becomes the sort of character he would've found inauthentic and boring. Nonetheless, it's hard not to be moved by his deep struggles with mental illness, substance abuse and the sincerity of his desires to write fiction about what it feels like to be alive. Worth a read if you're willing to tilt the balance of your experience slightly towards disappointment.