Something to Do with Paying Attention

Something to Do with Paying Attention by David Foster Wallace (2011) Published in 2021, this was originally published in 2011 as part of The Pale King, which was DFW’s unfinished novel, published after his death. It’s a long chapter, or subsection, I think they’re called—it’s §22, actually (I had to work to figure out how to make that symbol). What’s interesting is, I had read part of The Pale King and put it aside precisely at the end of this section—not because I didn’t like it—but because I did like it—and I had made a note to go back to it. Meaning, I guess, this does work as a stand-alone book. It’s about a guy who ends up working at the IRS (which is what The Pale King is about—an exciting subject for me!) —or, I guess, his background, in Chicago, and convoluted path to the IRS. It’s like a long monologue—it feels like a taped interview with this guy—just going on and on, in detail—and he can really talk. I find the whole book mundane, but in a way that I really like, and also poetic, in a very natural sense. I first picked this book up at the library, not knowing its origins until I got home—and it was worth re(reading). I really like that this publisher did this—it’s McNally Editions—connected to that McNally Jackson bookstore I used to go to in New York. The book as an object is enticing, an odd one, with a photo of a chair on the dust jacket. (I’ve seen another edition, too, not as interesting looking.) I suppose if you pick up this book and don’t like it, you’ll probably then skip The Pale King, but if you like it as much as I do, you’ll probably not be able to resist checking out The Pale King—even knowing it’s “unfinished,” and certainly not the same book it would have been had DFW not died. But, you know—no point in dwelling on that.

10.1.24