09/03/2026
Hi all it's Jamie, I wanted to recommend this book as we near the 25th anniversary of 9/11. This is a collection of essays by the late, and brilliant, David Foster Wallace. Before winning many awards for his writing, Wallace was raised in the Midwest and taught at ISU for many years. He was living in Bloomington on 9/11. For Rolling Stone, he wrote an insightful, heartbreaking, and also somehow humorous reflection on experiencing 9/11 through the unique cultural lens of Bloomington, IL. I have read this essay online every year on 9/11 for probably 15 years - it's so incisive and smart and gets to the bewilderment we all felt in the days immediately following what DFW calls "The Horror." I have a couple of copies in the store for anyone who might be interested! You can also order this book here and support our store: https://bookshop.org/a/108690/9780316013321
Special shout out to Erin C, my roommate in 2006 who introduced me to DFW. He tragically died by su***de in his 40s after many years of battling depression. When we were at ISU, there was a used book store near campus called Babbitt's, and English majors used to talk in hushed whispers about how you could sometimes find his used books with his name in them there. I was never so lucky, but I checked every time I visited (which was a lot, RIP Babbitt's, I miss you).
