β Scribed by Bolger, Robert K.; Korb, Scott; Wallace, David Foster; Wallace, David Foster
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Asked in 2006 about the philosophical nature of his fiction, the late American writer David Foster Wallace replied, "If some people read my fiction and see it as fundamentally about philosophical ideas, what it probably means is that these are pieces where the characters are not as alive and interesting as I meant them to be."
Gesturing Toward Reality looks into this quality of Wallace's workβwhen the writer dons the philosopher's capβand sees something else. With essays offering a careful perusal of Wallace's extensive and heavily annotated self-help library, re-considerations of Wittgenstein's influence on his fiction, and serious explorations into the moral and spiritual landscape where Wallace lived and wrote, this collection offers a perspective on Wallace that even he was not always ready to see. Since so much has been said in specifically literary circles about Wallace's philosophical acumen, it seems natural to have those with an interest in both philosophy and Wallace's writing address how these two areas come together.
Content: Love, and what you will, do: an introduction / Scott Korb --
How we ought to do things with words / Alexis Burgess --
The subsurface unity of all things, or David Foster Wallace's free will / Leland de la Durantaye --
A less "bullshitty" way to live: the pragmatic spirituality of David Foster Wallace / Robert K. Bolger --
This Is Water and religious self-deception / Kevin Timpe --
Inside David Foster Wallace's head: attention, loneliness, suicide, and the other side of boredom / Andrew Bennett --
The lobster considered / Robert C. Jones --
The terrible master: David Foster Wallace and the suffering of consciousness (with guest Arthur Schopenhauer) / Blakey Vermeule --
Philosophy, self-help, and the death of David Wallace / Maria Bustillos --
Untrendy problems: The Pale King's philosophical inspirations / Jon Baskin --
The formative years: David Foster Wallace's philosophical influences and The Broom of the System / Thomas Tracey --
Beyond philosophy: David Foster Wallace on literature, Wittgenstein, and the dangers of theorizing / Randy Ramal --
Good faith and sincerity: Sartrean virtues of self-becoming in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest / Allard den Dulk --
Theories of everything and more: infinity is not the end / Ryan David Mullins --
Does language fail us? Wallace's struggle with solipsism / Patrick Horn.
Wallace, David Foster -- Criticism and interpretation. Wallace, David Foster -- Philosophy. Wallace, David Foster. Philosophy. Wallace, David Foster, -- 1962-2008. Philosophie.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
Asked in 2006 about the philosophical nature of his fiction, the late American writer David Foster Wallace replied, "If some people read my fiction and see it as fundamentally about philosophical ideas, what it probably means is that these are pieces where the characters are not as alive and interes
<p>This collection aims to show that David Foster Wallaceβs work originates from and functions in the space between philosophy and literature. New essays by prominent and promising Wallace scholars explore the many ways these two discursive modes serve as always already intertwined ways of experienc
<b>An expanded edition featuring new interviews and an introduction by the editor, a <i>New York Times </i>journalist and friend of the author</b> A unique selection of the best interviews given by David Foster Wallace, including the last he gave before his suicide in 2008. Complete with an introdu