David Foster Wallace was one of the most influential and acclaimed writers of the second half of the 20th century. His most notable works include the The Broom of the System and Infinite Jest. His posthumous novel The Pale King was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2012. Mark Costello attended Amherst College, where he befriended renowned writer David Foster Wallace. He became an attorney after graduating from Yale Law School in 1988 and he is currently a professor of Federal Law at Fordham University. He lives in New York City, New York.