"David Foster Wallace is regarded as one of the most important American writers of the twentieth and twenty-first century. This book introduces readers to the literary, philosophical and political contexts of Wallace's work. An accessible and usable resource, this volume conceptualizes his work within long-standing critical traditions and with a new awareness of his importance for American literary studies. It shows the range of issues and contexts that inform the work and reading of David Foster Wallace, connecting his writing to diverse ideas, periods and themes. Essays cover topics on gender, sex, violence, race, philosophy, poetry and geography, among many others, guiding new and longstanding readers in understanding the work and influence of this important writer"--

Introduction; Part I. Context: 1. David Foster Wallace and narratology Pia Masiero; 2. A meeting of minds: David Foster Wallace, Vladimir Nabokov and the ethics of empathy Marshall Boswell; 3. Writing in a material world: David Foster Wallace and 1980s fiction Ralph Clare; 4. Confidence man: Wallace and the American nineteenth century Catherine Toal; 5. David Foster Wallace and European literature Lucas Thompson; 6. David Foster Wallace and poetry Philip Coleman; 7. 'Non'-fiction Martin Eve; 8. Thanks everybody and I hope you like it: David Foster Wallace and entertainment Matthew Luter; 9. Visual culture Corrie Baldauf; Part II. Ideas: 10. Wallace and attention Alice Bennett; 11. After analysis: notes on the new sincerity from Wallace to Knausgaard Jon Baskin; 12. Perfectionism and the ethics of failure Áine Mahon; 13. The pragmatist possibility in David Foster Wallace's writings Antonio Aguilar Vazquez; 14. A tale of two theses: system J and The Broom of the System Maureen Eckert; 15. Free will and determinism Paul Jenner; 16. Mathematics of the infinite Stuart J. Taylor; 17. Wallace and existentialism Allard Den Dulk; 18. David Foster Wallace and religion Tim Personn; 19. Mr. Consciousness Jamie Redgate; Part III. Bodies: 20. No ordinary love: David Foster Wallace and sex Emily Russell; 21. 'The Limits of His Seductively Fine Mind': Wallace, whiteness and the feminine Daniela Franca Joffe; 22. Wallace and masculinity Edward Jackson; 23. Theorizing the other Dominik Steinhilber; 24. Wallace and disability Peter Sloane; 25. Queering Wallace: on the queer history of addiction fiction Vincent Haddad; Part IV. Systems: 26. Infinite jest as opiate fiction Alexander Moran; 27 David Foster Wallace and racial capitalism Colton Saylor; 28. Language and self-creation: David Foster Wallace's many ways of sounding American Mary Shapiro; 29. Very old land: David Foster Wallace and the myths and systems of agriculture Jeffrey Severs; 30. Ecologies Laurie McRae Andrew; 31. 'I Could, If You'd Let Me, Talk and Talk': institutions, dialogue and citizenship in David Foster Wallace Joel Roberts; 32. David and Dutch: Wallace, Reagan and the US Presidency David Hering ; 33. Wallace and publishing Tim Groenland; 34. Author here, there and everywhere: Wallace and biography Mike Miley.