The anecdotes about the propagation of the mannerisms of Wittgenstein are a gem.

Here’s a particularly nice one about David Foster Wallace:

> James Wallace, who was a graduate student in philosophy in 1959-1962, not only learned philosophy at Cornell but also picked up a gesture of Wittgenstein. The gesture - hitting himself in the back of his head, to indicate what a fool he was was then passed on to his son, David Foster Wallace, who eventually figured out its origin.