First, Tschanz scoured the shelves at Ken Sanders Rare Books for books written by the novelist, who, at age 46, hanged himself at home in Claremont, Calif., Friday evening. Then, Tschanz, a loyal fan of the author, posted a sign in the window: "DFW RIP '62-'08."

On Monday, after Tschanz had arranged copies Wallace's essays and novels at the front of the store, he wondered aloud, "What happens to his legacy now?"

"How many people were familiar with his work? He's not Stephen King, he's not Grisham," Tschanz said, pointing out that the majority of the writer's following was a cult readership, largely in academia. Wallace visited the University of Utah in 2000 to read in the annual visiting writers' series.

As national commentators were comparing the impact of Wallace's death to that of rocker Kurt Cobain's, Catherine Weller, of Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore, lauded his literary stature. "A man of his breadth and depth doesn't come around often," Weller said, comparing his potential legacy to Hemingway's.

Wallace's first novel, The Broom of the System, gained national attention in 1987 for its ambition and offbeat humor. The New York Times said the then-24-year-old author "attempts to give us a portrait, through a combination of Joycean word games, literary parody and zany picaresque adventure, of a contemporary America run amok."

Wallace received a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 1997 and was named the Roy E. Disney Distinguished Chair at Pomona College in 2002.

The range of Wallace's work was remarkable. "I mean, he wrote a book about infinity," Tschanz said, referring to 1996's Infinite Jest, the novel that cemented Wallace's reputation as a major American literary figure. The 1,000-plus-page tome, praised for its complexity and dark wit, topped many annual best-of lists.

Weller said that the timely re-issue, in June, of Wallace's McCain's Promise, about John McCain's 2000 campaign, was flying off the shelves even before the news broke of the author's death on Saturday.

Despite the morbidity of the thought, both Weller and Tschanz predicted a rise in prices for the writer's limited-edition works. "He's always been collectible," Weller said.

But book sales were less on the booksellers' minds Monday than the formidable talent American readers had lost.

"Every four years he would release something magical," Tschanz said.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS contributed to this report.