The Pale KingThe "breathtakingly brilliant" novel by the author of Infinite Jest (New York Times) is a deeply compelling and satisfying story, as hilarious and fearless and original as anything Wallace ever wrote. 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. "The Pale King is by turns funny, shrewd, suspenseful, piercing, smart, terrifying, and rousing." --Laura Miller, Salon |
From inside the book
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David Foster Wallace. §6. They were up on a picnic table at that one park by the lake, by the edge of the lake with part of a downed tree in the shallows half hidden by the bank. Lane A. Dean Jr. and his girlfriend, both in blue jeans and ...
David Foster Wallace. §6. They were up on a picnic table at that one park by the lake, by the edge of the lake with part of a downed tree in the shallows half hidden by the bank. Lane A. Dean Jr. and his girlfriend, both in blue jeans and ...
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David Foster Wallace. appeared to be looking across the lake . If he moved , Lane didn't see it . He looked more like a picture than a man . There were not any ducks in view . One thing Lane Dean did was reassure her again that he'd go ...
David Foster Wallace. appeared to be looking across the lake . If he moved , Lane didn't see it . He looked more like a picture than a man . There were not any ducks in view . One thing Lane Dean did was reassure her again that he'd go ...
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... Lane A. Dean looking at her inclined head's side's barrettes in the shape of blue ladybugs . The appointment was for afternoon , but when the doorbell rang so early and his mother'd called to him up the stairs , he had known , and a ...
... Lane A. Dean looking at her inclined head's side's barrettes in the shape of blue ladybugs . The appointment was for afternoon , but when the doorbell rang so early and his mother'd called to him up the stairs , he had known , and a ...
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... Lane Dean had never believed in hell as a lake of fire or a loving God consigning folks to a burning lake of fire—he knew in his heart this was not true. What he believed in was a living God of compassion and love and the possibility of ...
... Lane Dean had never believed in hell as a lake of fire or a loving God consigning folks to a burning lake of fire—he knew in his heart this was not true. What he believed in was a living God of compassion and love and the possibility of ...
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... Lane Dean first felt he could take this all in whole; everything seemed distinctly lit, for the circle of the pin oak's shade had rotated off all the way and they sat now in sun with their shadow a two- headed thing in the grass to the ...
... Lane Dean first felt he could take this all in whole; everything seemed distinctly lit, for the circle of the pin oak's shade had rotated off all the way and they sat now in sun with their shadow a two- headed thing in the grass to the ...
Contents
Chapter 22 | |
About the Author | |
Title Page Copyright Editors Note Epigraph Chapter | 1 |
Chapter | 2 |
Chapter | 3 |
Chapter | 4 |
Chapter | 25 |
Chapter | 26 |
Chapter | 27 |
Chapter | 28 |
Chapter | 29 |
Chapter | 30 |
Chapter | 31 |
Chapter | 32 |
Chapter | 5 |
Chapter | 6 |
Chapter | 7 |
Chapter | 8 |
Chapter | 9 |
Chapter | 10 |
Chapter | 11 |
Chapter | 12 |
Chapter | 13 |
Chapter | 14 |
Chapter | 15 |
Chapter | 16 |
Chapter | 17 |
Chapter | 18 |
Chapter | 23 |
Chapter | 24 |
Chapter | 33 |
Chapter | 34 |
Chapter | 35 |
Chapter | 36 |
Chapter | 37 |
Chapter | 38 |
Chapter | 39 |
Chapter | 40 |
Chapter | 41 |
Chapter | 42 |
Chapter | 43 |
Chapter | 44 |
Chapter | 45 |
Chapter | 46 |
Chapter | 47 |
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Common terms and phrases
actually administrative Anand Singh audit aware complex corporations Cusk David Foster Wallace David Wallace desk door Drinion says employees Examination Center Exams eyes face fact father feel felt Fogle front girl Glendenning going Group hand happened head Hovatter Infinite Jest inside Internal Revenue Service Jarvis Brown kind knew Lake James Lane Dean Lehrl Libertyville Lindenhurst look Martinsburg mean Meredith Rand says mother never Obetrol Olive Borden Pale King pay attention Peoria person Personnel Post pretty problem progressive tax Regional remember returns revenue Reynolds rote seemed Service Service's Shane Drinion shit shoes side Singh sitting slightly someone sometimes sort sound Stecyk sweat Sylvanshine talking Tantillo tell there's thought totally trying turns type of thing understand watching wigglers window word World Turns