Does reading the initial section on Kate Gompert that goes into great description of what feeling depression is like give anyone else chills? I know assuming a character or narraitor is speaking about or experiencing something as the author does is a trap a reader should usually avoid, but I can't help, in this section, thinking that a lot of these feelings spring from DFW's own experience with depression. And in that light, I kind of understand why he erased his own map, as tragic as it is. The protagonist in the story "Good Ol Neon" is also suicidal, but by contrast I don't detect nearly as much of DFW's personal voice in him, so it's not like I'm just drawing a parallel based on the fact that both author and character shared a similar condition. Anyway, I found those passages incredibly poignant and difficult to get through. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
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