David Foster Wallace and the Body

Name: David Foster Wallace and the Body
Brand: Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis

David Foster Wallace and the Body is the first full-length study to focus on Wallace\u2019s career-long fascination with the human body and the textual representation of the body. The book provides engaging, accessible close readings that highlight the importance of the overlooked, and yet central theme of all of this major American author\u2019s works: having a body. Wallace repeatedly made clear that good fiction is about what it means to be a \u2018human being\u2019. A large part of what that means is having a body, and being conscious of the conflicts that arise, morally and physically, as a result; a fact with which, as Wallace forcefully and convincingly argues, we all desire \u2018to be reconciled\u2019. Given the ubiquity of the themes of embodiment in Wallace\u2019s work, this study is an important addition to an expanding field. The book also opens up the themes addressed to interrogate aspects of contemporary literature, culture, and society more generally, placing Wallace.