This Hurts

David Foster Wallace's agent floated this little tidbit during his memorial service last week.

"Bonnie Nadell, Wallace's literary agent from the beginning, dropped a tantalizing bit of news when she said that before things started getting really bad this spring, DFW had planned to write about Barack Obama and rhetoric for GQ. (…!)"

I can't explain the feelings of regret and loss that accompany the idea that a) such a thing was contemplated, b) how much I would enjoy reading the article, and c) we will never get to see it.  The concept makes perfect sense: to have Obama's speeches splayed and dissected by a brilliant mind with mastery of classical rhetoric, philosophic argument, modal logic, and modern American usage together with the ability to reflect on the greater meaning in a postmodern world. 

I also read that he spent his last days trying to keep it together by watching the Wire on DVD.  Man, I would have loved to get his thoughts on that show.