The Pale King

By David Foster Wallace,

Book cover of The Pale King

Book description

The "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…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Pale King as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I am a massive fan of David Foster Wallace, but I was skeptical when I first heard that his posthumous novel was set in something as banal as the Internal Revenue Service. But Wallace eased my concerns. Not only is the book engaging, but I was also surprised to find this work to be a novel of shadows.

The book is filled with thick descriptions of shadows moving eerily across rooms, halls, and buildings and perhaps even more disturbing, strange situations where brilliant lights cast no shadow. Reading the book, I wondered (or perhaps feared) that an excessive interest in…

From Erik's list on staring into the shadows.

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