Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman, switchboard operator for the Frequent and Vigorous Publishing Company, tries to cope with her great-grandmother's escape from a nursing home, her insanely jealous but not-too-passionate beau, and a cocatiel that spouts psycho-babble, Auden, and Bible quotations

* 'Ambitious, accomplished, deeply humorous, brilliant and witty and moving. A literary sensation' INDEPENDENT * With a new foreword by Dave Eggers

Where do you begin with a writer as original and brilliant as David Foster Wallace? Here--with a carefully considered selection of his extraordinary body of work, chosen by a range of great writers, critics, and those who worked with him most closely. This volume presents his most dazzling, funniest, and most heartbreaking work--essays like his famous cruise-ship piece, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," excerpts from his novels The Broom of the System, Infinite Jest, and The Pale King, and legendary stories like "The Depressed Person." Wallace's explorations of morality, self-consciousness, addiction, sports, love, and the many other subjects that occupied him are represented here in both fiction and nonfiction. Collected for the first time are Wallace's first published story, "The View from Planet Trillaphon as Seen In Relation to the Bad Thing" and a selection of his work as a writing instructor, including reading lists, grammar guides, and general guidelines for his students. A dozen writers and critics, including Hari Kunzru, Anne Fadiman, and Nam Le, add afterwords to favorite pieces, expanding our appreciation of the unique pleasures of Wallace's writing. The result is an astonishing volume that shows the breadth and range of "one of America's most daring and talented writers" (Los Angeles Times Book Review) whose work was full of humor, insight, and beauty.

A selection of David Foster Wallace s life s work, introducing readers to his remarkable humor, kindness, sweeping intellect, and versatility as a writer."The David Foster Wallace Reader" is a compilation from one of the most original writers of our age, featuring selections of his brilliant fiction and nonfiction. For new readers, this is an accessible introduction to the pleasures of reading Wallace; for fans, a must-have best-of; and for teachers, an invaluable tool. Astounding chapters from the novels "The Broom of the System," " Infinite Jest," and "The Pale King" are here, along with legendary stories including The Depressed Person, Good Old Neon, and his previously uncollected first story. This collection also features Wallace s essays delving into luxury ( A Supposedly Fun Thing I ll Never Do Again ), morality ( Consider the Lobster ), sports ( Roger Federer Both Flesh and Not ), literature, and the deep paradoxes of American life, plus reading lists from his life as a teacher."

Product Description: A selection of David Foster Wallace's life's work, introducing readers to his remarkable humor, kindness, sweeping intellect, and versatility as a writer.The David Foster Wallace Reader is a compilation from one of the most original writers of our age, featuring selections of his brilliant fiction and nonfiction...read more

Product Description: Brilliant, dazzling, never-before-collected nonfiction writings by "one of America's most daring and talented writers." (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Both Flesh and Not gathers fifteen of Wallace's seminal essays, all published in book form for the first time...read more

Product Description: Brilliant, dazzling, never-before-collected nonfiction writings by "one of America's most daring and talented writers." (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Both Flesh and Not gathers fifteen of Wallace's seminal essays, all published in book form for the first time...read more

Product Description: Al David F. Wallace, los agentes del Centro Regional de Examen de la Agencia Tributaria de Peoria, Illinois, le parecen de lo más normal. A medida que se adentra en la tediosa y repetitiva rutina de su trabajo, conocerá la magnífica variedad de personalidades que han sentido la llamada de Hacienda...read more

Product Description: Brilliant, dazzling, never-before-collected nonfiction writings by "one of America's most daring and talented writers." (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Both Flesh and Not gathers fifteen of Wallace's seminal essays, all published in book form for the first time...read more

Product Description: The agents at the IRS Regional Examination Center in Peoria, Illinois, appear ordinary enough to newly arrived trainee David Foster Wallace. But as he immerses himself in a routine so tedious and repetitive that new employees receive boredom-survival training, he learns of the extraordinary variety of personalities drawn to this strange calling...read more

Product Description: David Foster Wallace era para muchos el novelista más importante de su generación. The Broom of the System (1986) significó su debut, y tres años más tarde publicó La niña del pelo raro (Literatura Mondadori, 2000), relatos con los que captó la atención de la crítica...read more