Companion to David Foster Wallace Studies

Kasia Boddy, Cambridge University, UKDavid H. Evans, Dalhousie University, USAClaire Hayes Brady, Trinity College Dublin, UKAndrew Hoberek, University of Missouri-Columbia, USAMary Holland, SUNY New Paltz, USA Brian McHale, Ohio State University, USA Roberto Natalini, Università di Roma, ItalyPatrick O'Donnell, Michigan State University, USAPaul Quinn, freelance writer

"A Companion to David Foster Wallace Studies' academic rigour is a welcome contribution to the study of this most influential of contemporary U.S. writers." - 49th Parallel "A major collection on the work of David Foster Wallace, with essential contributions on his place in American literary history. Boswell and Burn present a stellar line-up of Wallace specialists, some of whom finally tackle issues such as gender and the importance of the Midwest." - Luc Herman, Professor of Literature, University of Antwerp, Belgium "Incisive and wide-ranging, this volume assembles some of the best critics at work today for a fascinating analysis of David Foster Wallace's writing. Alternating between fresh readings of individual texts and provocative meditations on the subjects that so occupied Wallace himself, these essays testify to Wallace's brilliance and profound influence on contemporary literature. Burn and Boswell have assembled a collection essential for anyone - from the beginning student to the serious scholar - who wants to understand more about Wallace's remarkable literary achievement." - Timothy Melley, Professor of English and Director of the Miami University Humanities Center, USA and author of The Covert Sphere: Secrecy, Fiction, and the National Security State

• Preface 1. Almost a Novel: The Broom of the System ; Patrick O'Donnell 2. A Fiction of Response: Girl with Curious Hair in Context; Kasia Boddy 3. David Foster Wallace and the Mathematics of Infinity; Roberto Natalini 4. "Webs of Nerves Pulsing and Firing': Infinite Jest and the Science of Mind; Stephen J. Burn 5. Location's Location: Placing David Foster Wallace; Paul Quinn 6. Mediated Immediacy in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men ; Mary K. Holland 7. '…': Language, Gender, and Modes of Power in the Work of David Foster Wallace; Claire Hayes-Brady 8. 'The Constant Monologue Inside Your Head': Oblivion and the Nightmare of Consciousness; Marshal Boswell 9. 'The Chains of Not Choosing': Free Will and Faith in William James and David Foster Wallace; David H. Evans 10. The Pale King , or, The White Visitation; Brian McHale 11. The Novel After David Foster Wallace; Andrew Hoberek