A Companion to David Foster Wallace Studies (American Literature Readings in the 21st Century)

Criticism of the work of David Foster Wallace has tended to be atomistic, focusing on a single aspect of individual works. A Companion to the Work of David Foster Wa ll ace is designed as a professional study of all of Wallace's creative work. This volume includes both thematic essays and focused examinations of each of his major works of fiction. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Almost a Novel: The Broom of the System....Pages 1-22 A Fiction of Response: Girl with Curious Hair in Context....Pages 23-41 David Foster Wallace and the Mathematics of Infinity....Pages 43-57 “Webs of Nerves Pulsing and Firing”: Infinite Jest and the Science of Mind....Pages 59-85 “Location’s Location”: Placing David Foster Wallace....Pages 87-106 Mediated Immediacy in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men....Pages 107-130 “...”: Language, Gender, and Modes of Power in the Work of David Foster Wallace....Pages 131-150 “The Constant Monologue Inside Your Head”: Oblivion and the Nightmare of Consciousness....Pages 151-170 “The Chains of Not Choosing”: Free Will and Faith in William James and David Foster Wallace....Pages 171-189 The Pale King, Or, The White Visitation....Pages 191-210 The Novel after David Foster Wallace....Pages 211-228 Back Matter....Pages 229-250 Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Abbreviations 8 Preface 10 1 Almost a Novel: The Broom of the System 14 2 A Fiction of Response: Girl with Curious Hair in Context 36 3 David Foster Wallace and the Mathematics of Infinity 55 4 “Webs of Nerves Pulsing and Firing”: Infinite Jest and the Science of Mind 70 5 “Location’s Location”: Placing David Foster Wallace 97 6 Mediated Immediacy in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men 117 7 “ . . . ”: Language, Gender, and Modes of Power in the Work of David Foster Wallace 141 8 “The Constant Monologue Inside Your Head”: Oblivion and the Nightmare of Consciousness 161 9 “The Chains of Not Choosing”: Free Will and Faith in William James and David Foster Wallace 181 10 The Pale King , Or, The White Visitation 200 11 The Novel after David Foster Wallace 220 Works Cited 238 Notes on Contributors 249 Index 252 Criticism of the work of David Foster Wallace has tended to be atomistic, focusing on a single aspect of individual works "A Companion to the Work of David Foster Wallace" is designed as a professional study of all of Wallace's creative work. With essays written by both top scholars in the field and exciting newcomers, the volume is anchored by a set of essays that provide detailed readings of each of his major works of fiction, including three novels and three story collections. Interwoven through these half-dozen single-text studies are thematic-based essays that address larger segments of Wallace's achievement via an eclectic range of critical environments, including mathematics, the spatial turn in contemporary criticism, gender theory, the legacy of American Pragmatism, and the emergent field of post-postmodern literary studies