Books by David Foster Wallace

'A writer of virtuostic talents who can seemingly do anything' New York Times'Wallace is a superb comedian of culture . . . his exuberance and intellectual impishness are a delight' James Woods, Guardian'He induces the kind of laughter which, when read in bed with a sleeping partner, wakes said sleeping partner up . . . He's damn good' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian'One of the best books about addiction and recovery to appear in recent memory' Sunday TimesSomewhere in the not-so-distant future the residents of Ennet House, a Boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the nearby Enfield Tennis Academy are ensnared in the search for the master copy of INFINITE JEST, a movie said to be so dangerously entertaining its viewers become entranced and expire in a state of catatonic bliss . . . 'Wallace's exuberance and intellectual impishness are a delight, and he has deep things to say about the hollowness of contemporary American pleasure . . . sentences and whole pages are marvels of cosmic concentration . . . Wallace is a superb comedian of culture' James Wood, GUARDIAN

David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.

The Pale King is David Foster Wallace's final novel - a testament to his enduring brillianceThe Internal Revenue Service Regional Examination Centre in Peoria, Illinois, 1985. Here the minutaie of a million daily lives are totted up, audited and accounted for. Here the workers fight a never-ending war against the urgency of their own boredom. Here then, squeezed between the trivial and the quotidian, lies all human life. And this is David Foster Wallace's towering, brilliant, hilarious and deeply moving final novel.'Breathtakingly brilliant, funny, maddening and elegiac' New York Times'A bravura performance worthy of Woolf or Joyce. Wallace's finest work as a novelist' Time'Light-years beyond Infinite Jest. Wallace's reputation will only grow, and like one of the broken columns beloved of Romantic painters, The Pale King will stand, complete in its incompleteness, as his most substantial fictional achievement' Hari Kunzru, Financial Times'A paradise of language and intelligence' The Times'Archly brilliant' Metro'Teems with erudition and ideas, with passages of stylistic audacity, with great cheerful thrown-out gags, goofy puns and moments of truly arresting clarity. Innovative, penetrating, forcefully intelligent fiction like Wallace's arrives once in a generation, if that' Daily Telegraph'In a different dimension to the tepid vapidities that pass as novels these days. Sentence for sentence, almost word for word, Wallace could out-write any of his peers' Scotland on SundayDavid Foster Wallace wrote the novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System, and the short-story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and Girl with Curious Hair. His non-fiction includes Consider the Lobster, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Everything and More, This is Water and Both Flesh and Not. He died in 2008.

A collection of insightful and uproariously funny non-fiction by the bestselling author of INFINITE JEST - one of the most acclaimed and adventurous writers of our time. A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING... brings together Wallace's musings on a wide range of topics, from his early days as a nationally ranked tennis player to his trip on a commercial cruiseliner. In each of these essays, Wallace's observations are as keen as they are funny. Filled with hilarious details and invigorating analyses, these essays brilliantly expose the fault line in American culture - and once again reveal David Foster Wallace's extraordinary talent and gargantuan intellect.

David Foster Wallace's fiercely original, bracingly funny first novel, reissued to coincide with his new short story collection.

Both Flesh and Not is an collection of essays and writing from the virtuosic genius David Foster WallaceBeloved for his brilliantly discerning eye, his verbal elasticity and his uniquely generous imagination, David Foster Wallace was heralded by critics and fans as the voice of a generation. Collected here are fifteen essays published for the first time in book form, including writing never published before in the UK.From 'Federer Both Flesh and Not', considered by many to be his non-fiction masterpiece; to 'The (As it Were) Seminal Importance of Terminator 2,' which deftly dissects James Cameron's blockbuster; to 'Fictional Futures and the Conspicuously Young', an examination of television's effect on a new generation of writers, the writing collected here swoops from erudite literary discussion to open-hearted engagement with the most familiar of our twentieth-century cultural references.A celebration of Wallace's great loves - for language, for precision, for meaning - and a feast of enjoyment for his fans, Both Flesh and Not is a fitting tribute to this writer who was never concerned with anything less important than what it means to be alive.Praise for David Foster Wallace:'A visionary, a craftsman, a comedian . . . he's in a different time-space continuum from the rest of us' Zadie Smith'Wallace's essays brim with cerebral energy, acute observation and fizzing wit. Enviably good' Sunday Times'Wallace's exuberance and intellectual impishness are a delight . . . a superb comedian of culture' Guardian, James WoodDavid Foster Wallace wrote the novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System, and the short-story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and Girl with Curious Hair. His non-fiction includes Consider the Lobster, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Everything and More, This is Water and Both Flesh and Not. He died in 2008.

Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a sick sense of humour? What is John Updike's deal anyway? And who won the Adult Video News' Female Performer of the Year Award the same year Gwyneth Paltrow won her Oscar? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in his new book of hilarious non-fiction. For this collection, David Foster Wallace immerses himself in the three-ring circus that is the presidential race in order to document one of the most vicious campaigns in recent history. Later he strolls from booth to booth at a lobster festival in Maine and risks life and limb to get to the bottom of the lobster question. Then he wheedles his way into an L.A. radio studio, armed with tubs of chicken, to get the behind-the-scenes view of a conservative talkshow featuring a host with an unnatural penchant for clothing that only looks good on the radio. In what is sure to be a much-talked-about exploration of distinctly modern subjects, one of the sharpest minds of our time delves into some of life's most delicious topics.

David Foster Wallace begik selvmord i 2008 i en alder af blot 46 år. Inden da havde han med romanen ’Infinite Jest’ etableret sig som det vigtigste skønlitterære navn i sin generation. Sideløbende med sine romaner og noveller skrev Wallace gennem hele karrieren essays og journalistiske reportager. Disse tekster er helt anderledes tilgængelige end hans litterære eksperimenter, og de er blevet læst bredt og har haft en kolossal indflydelse på forfattergenerationen, der tæller blandt andre Jonathan Franzen, Dave Eggers og Zadie Smith.Det mest kendte essay, ’Noget muligvis sjovt, jeg sikkert aldrig vil gøre igen’, er en rasende underholdende skildring af Wallaces oplevelser under et luksuskrydstogt i Caribien. Her tegnes et på én gang morsomt og forstemmende portræt af en amerikansk forlystelsesindustri, hvor man ikke bare har mulighed for, men nærmest er tvunget til at have det sjovt. Med i bogen er også en berømt tekst om tennisgeniet Roger Federer, en reportage fra John McCains kampagne for at blive republikanernes præsidentkandidat i 2000, Wallaces indædte opgør med den litterære postmodernisme samt titelessayet, som er en slags kondenseret udtryk for den måske vigtigste essens, man kan uddrage af Wallaces forfatterskab: en opfordring til, at vi sætter os ud over vores solipsistiske og søvngængeragtige standardindstilling, hvor vi er centrum i vores egen lille verden, og i stedet forholder os nysgerrigt, åbent og empatisk til vores omverden og medmennesker.

L’aclamat i malaguanyat escriptor David Foster Wallace reflexiona sobre alguns dels aspectes més importants de la vida en aquest manifest agut i profund. A mesura que busca respostes a preguntes gens senzilles, plasma les seves creences i deduccions sobre la naturalesa humana i dissecciona sense complexos una de les decisions més importants i alhora inconscients que prenem constantment: què pensem del món que ens envolta i de quina manera ho fem. Escrit amb l’intel·lecte i l’humor inconfusible de l’autor, L’aigua és això ens interpel·la sobre els reptes de la vida diària i ens ofereix reflexions provocadores que ens renoven a cada lectura.

Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures. Whether covering the three-ring circus of John McCain's 2000 presidential race, plunging into the wars between dictionary writers, or confronting the World's Largest Lobster Cooker at the annual Maine Lobster Festival, Wallace projects a quality of thought that is uniquely his and a voice as powerful and distinct as any in American letters.

In this thought-provoking and playful short story collection, David Foster Wallace nudges at the boundaries of fiction with inimitable wit and seductive intelligence.Wallace's stories present a world where the bizarre and the banal are interwoven and where hideous men appear in many guises. Among the stories are 'The Depressed Person,' a dazzling and blackly humorous portrayal of a woman's mental state; 'Adult World,' which reveals a woman's agonized consideration of her confusing sexual relationship with her husband; and 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men,' a dark, hilarious series of imagined interviews with men on the subject of their relations with women.Wallace delights in leftfield observation, mining the absurd, the surprising, and the illuminating from every situation. This collection will enthrall DFW fans, and provides a perfect introduction for new readers.

David Foster Wallace blev sin generations vigtigste skønlitterære navn med romanen ‘Infinite Jest’, men stor anseelse nyder også hans essays, der på dansk blev samlet i ‘Dette er vand’ (2014), og hans noveller, som hermed får sin egen samling.Der indledes med den tidlige novelle “Planeten Trillafon og dens stilling i forhold til det værste” – en selvbiografisk skildring af den ubærlige smerte ved depression og den medicinske behandling herfor. Novellen er en uhyggelig forudskikkelse af den psykiske nedtur, der ledte frem til forfatterens selvmord i 2008, og sammen med den sidste tekst, “Gode Gamle Neon”, der ligeledes kredser om den depressives sindstilstand, danner den en dyster ramme for bogen.Imellem disse to noveller præsenteres en række eksperimenterende tekster, der bevæger sig vidt omkring i følelsesregisteret. “Min optræden” er en urkomisk fortælling om skuespillerinden Edilyn, der til sin store skræk inviteres til at optræde i superironikeren David Lettermans legendariske talkshow. Titelnovellen “Små udtryksløse dyr” om Jeopardy-fænomenet Julie tager ligeledes afsæt i medieverdenens facadespil.Vi får to af forfatterens berygtede “Interviews med ækle mænd” – i det første fortæller en mand om sin dybe skam og væmmelse ved sin hårdtarbejdende fars mangeårige arbejde som toiletpasser, og i det andet forsøger hovedpersonen at overbevise den umælende interviewer (og os) om, at hans ‘romantiske’ forhold til et psykisk skadet voldtægtsoffer på ingen måde udgør en kynisk udnyttelse af et såret medmenneske. “Glemsel” skildrer en banal ægteskabelig konflikt, hvor den pedantiske og møgirriterende jegfortæller ikke vil godtage sin hustrus anklager om, at han snorker.På tragisk og morsom vis kredser Foster Wallace i mange af novellerne om et kardinaltema i forfatterskabet: fejlslagen kommunikation mellem mennesker og den dermed forbundne ensomhed og isolation. Men sjældent i verdenslitteraturen er disse dystre temaer behandlet med så stor vitalitet og ekvilibrisme.

“Dette er vand” har haft en mærkværdig skæbne som tekst. Den startede som en tale og er endt som David Foster Wallaces mest læste og berømte tekst - måske fordi han heri kredser om livets mening og meningsløshed og også om selvmord - som han selv endte med at begå i 2008 i en alder af blot 46 år. Oprindeligt var den en afgangstale til de studerende på Kenyon College, men efter Wallaces død har den jordnære og ligefremme tekst fået sit eget liv som en slags kondenseret udtryk for den måske vigtigste lektie, man kan lære af Wallaces forfatterskab: en opfordring til, at vi prøver at sætte os ud over vores solipsistiske og søvnhængeragtige standardindstilling, hvor vi selv er i centrum i vores egen lille verden, og i stedet forholder os nysgerrigt, åbent og empatisk til vores omverden og medmennesker.

The David Foster Wallace Reader is a selection of David Foster Wallace's work, introducing readers to his humour, kindness, sweeping intellect and versatility as a writer. A compilation from the one of the most original writers of our age, featuring: the very best of his fiction and non-fiction; previously unpublished writing and original contributions from 12 prominent authors and critics about his workFrom classic short fiction to genre-defining reportage, this book is a must for new readers and confirmed David Foster Wallace fans alike'One of the most dazzling luminaries of contemporary American fiction' Sunday Times'There are times, reading his work, when you get halfway through a sentence and gasp involuntarily, and for a second you feel lucky that there was, at least for a time, someone who could make sense like no other of what it is to be a human in our era' Daily Telegraph'A prose magician, Mr. Wallace was capable of writing . . .about subjects from tennis to politics to lobsters, from the horrors of drug withdrawal to the small terrors of life aboard a luxury cruise ship, with humour and fervour and verve' Michiko Kakutani, The New York TimesDavid Foster Wallace wrote the novels The Pale King, Infinite Jest, and The Broom of the System and three story collections. His nonfiction includes Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. He died in 2008.

Signifying Rappers is a fun and quirky discovery for any fan of David Foster Wallace or Hip-hop.Signifying Rappers is an old-school classic from David Foster Wallace and his friend and room-mate Mark Costello, first published in 1990, long out of print, and previously unavailable outside the USA.A paean to the golden age of Hip-Hop and the first book to consider seriously its position as a vital force in American culture, Signifying Rappers is a must-read for fans of both Wallace and hip-hop. Set against the legendary 1980s scene, it maps the bipolarities of rap and pop, rebellion and acceptance, glitz and gangsterdom, with an energy and exuberance which is as fresh today as when it was written.'Costello and Wallace's pioneering study is a dazzling performance: informative, provocative, funny, brilliantly written . . . great wit, insight and in-your-face energy' Review of Contemporary Fiction'Both a cogent explication of rap and a cutting, revealing parody of overinflated, pseudointellectual rap criticism' Seattle WeeklyDavid Foster Wallace, who died in 2008, was the author of the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System. His final novel, The Pale King, was published posthumously in 2011. He is also the author of the short-story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and Girl with Curious Hair. His non-fiction includes several essay collections, including Both Flesh and Not, which was published in 2012, and the the full-length work Everything and More.Mark Costello is the author of two novels, including the National Book Award Finalist Big If. He lives in New York City.

A visionary, a craftsman, a comedian ... He can do anything with a piece of prose, and it is a humbling experience to see him go to work on what has passed up till now as 'modern fiction'. He's so modern he's in a different time-space continuum from the rest of us. Goddamn him' ZADIE SMITHA recognised master of form and a brilliant recorder of human behaviour, David Foster Wallace has been hailed as 'the most significant writer of his generation' (TLS). Each new book confirms and extends his genius, and this new short story collection is no exception. In the stories that make up OBLIVION, David Foster Wallace conjoins the rawest, most naked humanity with the infinite convolutions of self-consciousness - a combination that is dazzlingly, uniquely his.'Wallace's talent is such that you can't help wondering: how good can he get?' TIME OUT

In these stories, the author renders the bizarre normal and the absurd hilarious, from the eerily "real", almost holographic evocations of historical figures, to overtelevised game-show hosts and late-night comedians. In the title story, punk nihilism meets Young Republicanism.