Understanding David Foster Wallace, revised and expanded edition

"Understanding David Foster Wallace places incisive close readings in a rich context that Wallace's fiction emerged from and shaped—including literary postmodernism, popular culture, philosophies of language, politics, and ethics—to create an overview that is as accessible as it is illuminating. An excellent place to start and return to for scholars, teachers, students, and all readers of Wallace's challenging work."—Mary K. Holland, State University of New York, New Paltz

"Understanding David Foster Wallace is the first critical study of Wallace that I ever got my hands on and it remains a wonderful introduction to his work. Boswell writes on Wallace with clarity, precision, and a graceful authority. Readers will come away with a firm grasp of Wallace's major themes and aesthetic concerns."—Ralph Clare, Boise State University

"Boswell reads like a novelist and a critic, with a sensitivity to craft and narrative design married to a lucid and eclectic grasp of Wallace's myriad theoretical and intellectual contexts. If you read just one book about Wallace's fiction, this is the study to read."—Stephen Burn, University of Glasgow

"This welcome edition builds impressively on Boswell's seminal work in its previous incarnations. The volume is rounded out by two chapters on Oblivion and The Pale King, making it a complete and cohesive guide to Wallace's oeuvre. Managing to balance astute observation and accessible style, Understanding David Foster Wallace is indispensable for seasoned scholars and new readers alike."—Clare Hayes-Brady, University College Dublin

"Boswell makes Wallace much easier to understand, in terms of both his work and his place in the literary canon, in which he is among Pynchon, Barth, Franzen, Eggers, and DeLillo, men who wrote books mostly about men... Recommended."—Choice Reviews