So so good! God damn! made me want to write, made me want to try even harder to get published, it even inspired a 5,000-word letter to Bonnie Nadell. A completely insider look at DFW from cradle to grave. DT Max keeps an excellent pace until the end: from the beginnings of his working on The Pale King to his unforgivable suicide, the pace seems to quicken and the details seem to diminish - it's almost as if DT Max saved this portion for last and was in a deadline rush (although it is quite possible that he had less information about this period of Wallace's life). Max does a superb job of weaving Wallace's actual writing, missives, and direct quotes from people who knew him into the entire manuscript and the result is a very rich, moving, and compelling vision of the writer's life as lived by an unfortunately broken and brilliant man. The excerpted pieces of his novels, articles, ad short stories made me ever hungrier to read his entire catalog. This book is also a MUST-READ for anyone who is a fan of Infinite Jest; the detailed treatment of the book's origins, it's struggle in the literary world (until long after it's initial publishing) and the insight into what inspired the massive tome and where its myriad characters and ideas are derived is priceless to a dedicated fan.