Years ago, I picked up a magazine and read the best tennis article I’ve ever seen, complete with footnotes. It was written by David Foster Wallace, so I read a few pages of one of his books at Borders. Was I disappointed! I thought Foster-Freeze should’ve stuck to sportswriting.

I would be surprised if Wallace’s admirers also think highly of Philip Roth, Kingsley Amis, Tom Wolfe, and Thomas Wolfe. But, heck, it’s a matter of taste, right?

It’s time I confessed. I killed David Foster Wallace, but I wish I hadn’t. When he made the journey from Illinois State University all the way to benighted Southern California to raise the tone, the L.A. Times published a brief interview, in which Wallace raved about his wonderful new colleagues, using the adjective “really” four times in 36 words.

The man was probably not at his best, perhaps suffering from culture shock and smog. I should have let him slide. Oh, why didn’t I cut him some slack? I confess that I wrote a letter to the editors of the “liberal” L.A. Times, pointing out that “Wallace has, like, y’know, a really good vocabulary. Really!”

I fear he was the laughingstock of Pomona College the next morning when my letter was published. “Really, David?” Dang! Had I known how hard he would take it, I wouldn’t have been so cruel.

Thanks for all the comments informing us that suicide is tragic and counterproductive. Kids, don’t try this at home! Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

". . .individuals that scored in the 12th percentile believed that . . ."

Next time, please write "individuals who scored."

I used to be an editor, and this comment is my choice.

Why not pile on more and more criticism of Governor Palin? This is one of those times when much too much is just right.

Worried that we're losing sight of the candidates? This morning I read that Obama with 52% of voters is ahead of McCain with his 43%.

Doesn't sound like much? Well, for you folks who "didn't get math," that means Obama has 21% more voters than McCain. Does that sound better?

In the 1980s my daughter Jennifer was a server in the Upper East Side's elegant Table d'hote, where she was always glad to see Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. She could keep her composure as long as she didn't look into his eyes.

I remember a photo of the young Newman with his fingers lightly gripping the neck of a beer bottle, which appeared to be almost an accessory to his persona. At the time, I read (and not in a supermarket checkout line) that he drank a case of Coors (24 bottles) every day.

As a man who can truly appreciate the matchless feeling of cold beer sliding down my throat, I dug that. Was it true? Did he quit?

True, Joanne, and informative, but I'm still reeling from the spectacle of an ethically incompetent "highly conservative candidate for change" debating on TV in front of God and everybody.

(Personally i think one root is the legal definition of corporations as "people" which leads to confused rhetoric as well as strange legal consequences - but, i'm crazy.)

You're not crazy, mattcohen, but give credit to the often-reviled Ralph Nader for saying it first. Corporations are truly Unsafe at Any Speed.

Ché, I've looked at your website. Your opinions are all over the road, but not always where the rubber meets the road.

I suspect you'd sell beer in an empty lot, call it the best topless bar in town, and stand behind your asseverations. I won't ask you to stand behind my asseveration.

Without a bailout, the entire world may be plunged into a terrible depression; so say bankers in many wealthy nations. Obviously it would be to their benefit to chip in. They became much richer as a result of deregulation in America. If they want to avert an otherwise unstoppable crisis, let them help.

MCE007,

"Moreover, it's far from clear which version of Barack Obama will end up governing -- the cautious and principle-free centrist who sought out Joe Lieberman's mentorship and then endorsed him over an anti-war Democratic insurgent; the high-minded and establishment-challenging change agent of the Democratic primary; or the bland establishment figure of the general election seeking to minimize, even erase, every difference he has with Republicans."

The new Obama brand MIGHT be a front for the real right wing, and the right front wheel MIGHT fall off of a brand-new Lamborghini, you weenie.

We calmly discuss why "Rock" Obama is so very electable. We don't stop working for The Cause, but we're relaxed and even more energetic because battleground states are falling over, one after another. Hey, at last -- proof that the Domino Theory really works! Boy, when liberalism takes over one Heartland state, it spreads into the next one.

Any Democrat would have been a clear winner in the 2008 presidential election race in a time when 8 out of 10 people say the country has been going in the wrong direction. Hillary would have mopped the floor with McCain. I would have loved to hold their coats while she pounded him unmercifully, not that he deserves any mercy.

McCain is obviously a sacrificial lamb who became a scapegoat.

Readerreader,

"Men will not go down that road again, and women clearly did not enjoy it much this time . . ."

That must have been a stimulating haircut.