The Cambridge Companion to David Foster Wallace

by Ralph Clare (editor)

Best known for his masterpiece Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace re-invented fiction and non-fiction for a generation with his groundbreaking and original work. Wallace's desire to blend formal innovation and self-reflexivity with the communicative and restorative function of literature resulted in works that appeal as much to a reader's intellect as they do emotion. As such, few writers in recent memory have quite matched his work's intense critical and popular impact. The essays in this Companion, written by top Wallace scholars, offer a historical and cultural context for grasping Wallace's significance, provide rigorous individual readings of each of his major works, whether story collections, non-fiction, or novels, and address the key themes and concerns of these works, including aesthetics, politics, religion and spirituality, race, and post-humanism. This wide-ranging volume is a necessary resource for understanding an author now widely regarded as one of the most influential and important of his time.

Genres: Literature, Nonfiction

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 20, 2018

Reviews

[Tauan Tinti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mistérios da área: como podem os textos de especialistas serem (bem) menos interessantes do que aqueles saídos em jornais e suplementos já há um tempão? Parece ter faltado a alguém(s) a atenção devida à ementa de um curso do próprio DFW ("In less narcotizing words, English 102 aims to show you some ways to read fiction more deeply, to come up with more interesting insights on how pieces of fiction work, to have informed intelligent reasons for liking or disliking a piece of fiction, and [aqui o que importa] to write - clearly, persuasively, and [aqui ainda mais] above all interestingly - about stuff you've read."

Sem isso aí, o que sobra é aquele verniz de ciência que não convence ninguém - ou, pior, que na área parece boa parte do tempo reduzido (o verniz) a acompanhar o compasso inexorável das modas em sequência (Wallace e raça, Wallace e memória, Wallace e gênero, Wallace e literatura mundial...). Melhor, por incrível que pareça, juízos antiquados como os de um James Wood, que ao menos se incomodou com algo que de fato importava - e que foi expressado de um jeito que não causava roncos.

(Mas o Companion tem lá suas exceções etc.)