David Wallace

A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball

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. And he has arrived at a moment when forces within the IRS are plotting to eliminate even what little humanity and dignity the work still has. The Pale King remained unfinished at the time of David Foster Wallace's death, but it is a deeply compelling and satisfying novel, hilarious and fearless and as original as anything Wallace ever undertook. It grapples directly with ultimate questions--questions of life's meaning and of the value of work and society--through characters imagined with the interior force and generosity that were Wallace's unique gifts. Along the way it suggests a new idea of heroism and commands infinite respect for one of the most daring writers of our time.

This deluxe paperback edition--featuring flaps, new cover art, and a new foreword by Tom Bissell--celebrates the 20th anniversary of the original publication of "Infinite Jest." A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, "Infinite Jest" explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human - and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do

Discover one of the most celebrated writers of our age - the visionary author of Infinite Jest andA Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do AgainFrom genre-defining reportage to genre-breaking fiction, David Foster Wallace captured the human experience as no-one else has - in all its multiplicity, sorrow and tenderness, wit and irony and deep, dazzling truth. Penguin presents the very best of his collected fiction and nonfiction, including extracts from his most famous novels, short stories and iconic essays such as 'Consider the Lobster'. Alongside these classic pieces is exclusive, previously unpublished work, and critical contributions from twelve prominent authors and thinkers, all commissioned specifically for this collection.

„A Végtelen tréfa az X-generáció Ulyssessévé vált. Wallace gigantikus opuszát olvasni olyan, mintha nyakig merülnénk a kilencvenes évek sajtburgerszagú, MTV-fixált, hedonista univerzumában, és fejest ugranánk egy saját diszkomfortzónájában ragadt, megszállott és néha követhetetlenül gyorsan szerváló író zavarosan örvénylő agyába.” – Könyvesblog David Foster Wallace főműve, a Végtelen tréfa a jövőben játszódik, amikor Kanada, Mexikó és az Egyesült Államok egy ONAN (Organization of North American Nations) nevű szuperállammá olvad össze. A regény szereplői egy teniszakadémia növendékei és egy alkohol- és drogelvonó intézet bentlakói, valamint québeci radikálisok egy csoportja, és mindenkit az az egy cél vezérel, hogy megtalálja a Szórakoztatásnak, annak a filmnek a mesterkópiáját, ami – ha az ember egyszer is megnézte – nem hagyja, hogy azután egyéb tevékenységet folytasson. A Végtelen tréfa lényegi kérdéseket feszeget: mi a szórakoztatás, és miért uralja az életünket, miképp hat az emberi kapcsolatainkra a szórakozás iránti vágyunk, és mit árulnak el rólunk az általunk választott örömök.