Signed Book

[u/MelodicDaikon713]

You were all so enthusiastic about my other post (https://www.reddit.com/r/davidfosterwallace/s/0fzdZmXxLL) that I wanted to share one more DFW treasure. I love his comments re: prior books and the drawing on the title page.

Back story: I took an intro to English course with him at Illinois State University in the Fall of 1996. At the end of the course, I asked him to sign a copy of Infinite Jest. He started writing "For All" (he was going to use two Ls in my name, "For Allie"). I interrupted him and he pivoted to "For All-Time Favorite Student" (lies!). But it still meant/means an awful lot to me.

[u/ClayMatthewT]

I love that he added little mini reviews of his other books

[u/Carl_The_Sagan → u/ClayMatthewT]

too bad the review is incorrect , Broom of the System is in fact very good

[u/cherrypieandcoffee → u/Carl_The_Sagan]

I really struggled to get through it. It felt like such a Pynchon homage - but without the same charm. 

[u/Otherwise-Charge5904 → u/ClayMatthewT]

Yes with sad and smiley faces to go with

[u/__Z__]

Best memory of him as a teacher? I'm sure we're all dying to know.

[u/arugulas]

Is the box he drew around the title supposed to be a TV? I can see an antenna and two dials in the bottom right of it. This has to be the mother of all signed IJ copies lol

[u/Popular_Try_5075 → u/arugulas]

Yes! One of my favorite details.

[u/notcrying → u/arugulas]

i thought the bottom right was a poorly drawn infinity symbol haha

[u/Hal_Incandenza_YDAU]

That's a treasure right there

[u/kitten_pawsXo]

This is so insanely cool. I love that you have all these bits of his personality, and I also love that he was still spelling your name incorrectly by the end of the semester 😭

[u/Donovan_Redd]

This is precious.

[u/homiedontshake]

I love the smiley faces

[u/SamanthaMulderr]

This is amazing!

I both love and hate his beef with BOTS lol

[u/RedditCraig]

This is absolutely magic. Thank you for sharing this, what a gift.

[u/spock2thefuture]

Took me a second to notice he drew a TV with rabbit ear antenna. This is awesome on many levels!

[u/strikethat-reverseit]

Thank you for sharing. Truly a treasure indeed. Also, "not all that good"?! I love Broom of the System. It was the first DFW I ever read.

[u/DependentLaugh1183 → u/strikethat-reverseit]

Broom is one of the only books I’ve ever read twice. It was my introduction to DFW.

[u/pattyforever → u/strikethat-reverseit]

You can never trust writers to review their own work

[u/FunkyDiabetic1988 → u/pattyforever]

yeah well the best writers become the best by holding themselves to a high standard. And it was a book he wrote in college. Of course he wasn’t proud of it.

[u/Gullible_Tie_4399 → u/strikethat-reverseit]

I love the novel. In an interview he disparaged broom as seeming “the work of a precocious child”. I don’t know any kids who write like that

[u/Fit_Opinion_7195 → u/strikethat-reverseit]

Yeah its one of my favorite books.

[u/crushlogic]

Ali, you are the luckiest girl in the world. What a treasure! I so enjoyed seeing your papers and his notes also, thank you so much for sharing!

[u/NormalGuyPosts]

How would you like $37, just like that

[u/thatsmyboycam]

at ISU? I missed him by a few years, but I met someone who had him as a prof. Said he didn’t teach much but was cool as hell.

[u/vvithout]

There's a part Although of Course You End Up etc etc where he's at a signing and a lady is confused about something he drew, and he has to explain it's a smiley face. I hadn't seen any of his signed books before so I had no idea how a smiley face could be confusing... I kind of get it now lmao those are funky lil faces >:^).

Thank you for sharing this!

[u/PYMGUS]

Amazing.

[u/penicillin-penny]

That’s really special.

[u/yitzilitt]

Oh wow, I’m so jealous lol

[u/thewatcher007]

Very cool!

[u/lola_dubois18]

Wow! That is awesome. 😎

[u/gogglebox88]

What a treasure

[u/degarmot1]

Really love this. Thank you so much for posting these treasures

[u/Free_Answered]

If he wrote "hope you can be the first to read my book!" Wld be really cool.

[u/SenseIntelligent8846]

This is great -- thanks for posting this.

[u/jessek]

He really did love textual interjections like footnotes, etc.

[u/raise_the_sails]

Coolest thing I’ve ever seen!

[u/tmag97]

His handwritting is so pleasing to me

[u/Weak_Combination_994]

Girl with Curious Hair was INCREDIBLE lol

[u/BLEAKROOM]

thanks for this. feel strongly about those smiley faces.

[u/ScrubzMacKenzie]

I grew up in the same town as him, and according to my father, the tennis courts by my house is where he used to play regularly.

[u/softdaddy69]

That’s so good 

[u/fucktheworldman]

I dont know DFW that well but I know he has a very neurotic personality and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a neurotic autograph

[u/Marginally_Mammalian → u/fucktheworldman]

Boo

[u/fucktheworldman → u/Marginally_Mammalian]

I didn’t mean it negatively. I’m aware he’s a genius

[u/WhitneyFebreeze → u/fucktheworldman]

Neurotic people are highly underrated. Who do you think digs into the minute details of problems around the world and fixes them without anyone knowing? Or creates grand sweeping masterpieces for others to awwwww at? They may be difficult relationally, but they are wonderful.

[u/fucktheworldman → u/WhitneyFebreeze]

I think so too, they’re detail oriented and awesome

[u/91021Fart]

Woooowww this is so awesome. Thank you for posting this!!!