The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace
eBook - PDF

The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace

Boredom and Addiction in an Age of Distraction

  1. 128 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace

Boredom and Addiction in an Age of Distraction

About this book

The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace is the first book to explore key religious themes - from boredom to addiction, and distraction – in the work of one of America's most celebrated contemporary novelists. In a series of short, topic-focussed chapters, the book joins a selection of key scenes from Wallace's novels Infinite Jest and The Pale King with clear explanations of how they contribute to his overall account of what it means to be a human being in the 21st century. Adam Miller explores how Wallace's work masterfully investigates the nature of first-world boredom and shows, in the process, how easy it is to get addicted to distraction (chemical, electronic, or otherwise). Implicitly critiquing, excising, and repurposing elements of AA's Twelve Step program, Wallace suggests that the practice of prayer (regardless of belief in God), the patient application of attention to things that seem ordinary and boring, and the internalization of clichés may be the antidote to much of what ails us in the 21st century.

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Yes, you can access The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace by Adam S. Miller in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Criticism for Comparative Literature. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Abbreviations
  4. Preface
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. 1 Books
  7. 2 Heads
  8. 3 Maps
  9. 4 Taxes
  10. 5 Contortions
  11. 6 Addiction
  12. 7 Desire
  13. 8 Despair
  14. 9 Distraction
  15. 10 Watching
  16. 11 Assassins
  17. 12 Irony
  18. 13 Masks
  19. 14 Beauty
  20. 15 Time
  21. 16 Deskwork
  22. 17 Sewage
  23. 18 Size
  24. 19 Silence
  25. 20 Immersion
  26. 21 Indifference
  27. 22 Boredom
  28. 23 Awareness
  29. 24 Heroes
  30. 25 Revelations
  31. 26 Abiding
  32. 27 Bodies
  33. 28 Prayer
  34. 29 Clichés
  35. 30 Epiphany
  36. Afterword
  37. Permissions
  38. Bibliography
  39. Index