About this title: 'A visionary, a craftsman, a comedian and as serious as it is possible to be without accidentally writing a religious text. He can do anything with a piece of prose, and it is a humbling experience to see him go to work on what has passed up till now as "modern fiction". He's so modern he's in a different time-space continuum from the rest of us. Goddamn him' Zadie Smith The mysterious disappearance of her great- grandmother and twenty-five other elderly inmates from a Shaker Heights nursing home has left Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman emotionally stranded on the edge of the Great Ohio ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: S Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Avon Books, Dresden, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780380730308ISBN:0380730308
Description: As New. Apparently unread, but the spine bears some very faint stress from having been look at--books this thick, this often happens. Square and solid, and NEW unless one gets into careful inspection. You'll be thrilled when this book gets to you! ! ! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780142002421ISBN:0142002429
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Date Published: 2004-05-01
ISBN-13:9780142002421ISBN:0142002429
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780142002421. read more
Edition: First Paperback Edition, First Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Avon Books, Dresden, Tennessee, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780380719914ISBN:0380719916
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. A very good paperback copy, lightly used. The binding is solid, but there is one faint reading crease in the spine. The cover shows only mild wear, with a bent corner and light rubbing of the edges. There is an owner's dated signature and a bookstore stamp in front, but the text is clean and unmarked. There is minor moisture damage which gives some waviness to the uppte corner of about twenty pages. -------------------------------------------------------------- ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: LITTLE, BROWN BOOK GROUP Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780349109237ISBN:0349109230
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 467 pages. (467 pages) this is david foster wallace's first novel, reissued to coincide with his new short story collection. (Paperback) read more
Description: Fair. 0380719916 different cover/ light/moderate page discoloration/ binding is creased moderate/ sticker on cover/ edge wear/ Avon Books/may 1993 /"Buy with Confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Customer Service Makes All the Difference. " read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin, New York
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140098686ISBN:0140098682
Description: As New. Octavo, illustrated white stiff wraps (trade paperback). 467 pp. The author's critically acclaimed FIRST NOVEL. Simultaneously published paperback first edition from this leading postmodern American novelist, essayist and short story writer and winner of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship ("Genius Award") as well as repeated O. Henry and Lannan Awards. This volume is New Old Stock and AS NEw. Very tight, square, crisp, stiff, fresh, clean, unmarked and unread with a flat uncreased ... read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin Books, New York
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140098686ISBN:0140098682
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 1987 Penguin Books TRUE FIRST Edition issued concurrenlty in both HB & SC formats. This softcover copy of Wallace's is in NF condition with virtually no wear at all. read more
Description: Good; Collectible. 1987 Penguin Contemporary American Fiction paperback-Wallace 1st novel published along side rare hard cover-some staining to page edge and back cover-minor wear to cover-otherwise binding like new contents clean-a fine collectible-enjoy. read more
Description: Good; Collectible. 1987 Penguin Contemporary American Fiction paperback-Wallace 1st novel published along side rare hard cover-some staining to page edge and back cover-minor wear to cover-otherwise binding like new contents clean-a fine collectible-enjoy. read more
Description: Good; Collectible. 1987 Penguin-first edition produced at same time as hard cover-author's first book-some wear to cover-some creases to binding-some staining to page edge-otherwise binding strong contents clean-a fine collectible-enjoy. read more
Description: Good; Collectible. 1987 Penguin-first edition produced at same time as hard cover-author's first book-creases on cover-onwer's name inside cover-tanning to page edge-otherwise binding strong contents clean-a very fine collectible-this author is a keeper. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Press, New York
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780670812301ISBN:0670812307
Description: Good+ in Fair jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Aqua blue covers with black cloth spine 1/3rd wrap around, shiny green arrow on spine with black lettering, green end papers, slight spine lean, slight toning of the paper edges, tight and clean, no markings, not a library book, 467 pages, blue bottom front cover corner has 1/4" wear thru on edge, dj shows wear with mild frayed edges top and bottom, partial pc of clear tape about 1" long starting on rear with 1/4" on spine, reason for tape I'm not ... read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Press, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780670812301ISBN:0670812307
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. Ex-Library Expected deficiencies of a library book. Front hinge is broken but binding is firm. Text is clean. read more
Edition: First
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin, (New York)
Date Published: (1987)
Description: First edition, wrappered issue. Just a touch of the usual darkening to the pages, still easily fine in wrappers. Signed by the author on the title page. A very nice copy of the author's first book. From the Library of Bruce Kahn. read more
"Funny and endearing. The book is divided into two parts, and, out of coincidence (being legitimately busy), I actually read it as such ... with a week or two between segments. Not sure if this helped or hurt. It is certainly the kind of reading where you need to shift your reading brain to the writer's particular groove - the next book you pick up will almost certainly feel less ... something. Less like an explosion of a brain onto the page, and more like a novel.
And that's what's cool about BROOM. The whole point of the book is to say ... if we're all just linguistic creations, what's the difference between us and a character in a story? And it goes about nine-hundred places with this where you or I would just smile at the suggestion and move on.
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All flawed, all interesting characters, most of whom act like children and most of whom should fall out of your graces/empathy as a reader but don't.
An absolutely absurd plot that, when I tried to describe it to my girlfriend, sounded like total gibberish. "She thinks her grandmother's disappearance is a meta-linguistic puzzle." WAT. Now I'm not even sure what that means.
But extremely readable for what's happening here. DFW is, as we've all been told, talented. Turns out he's mostrously, world-defyingly talented. Worth it for the funnies, worth it for the "hmm" moments, and certainly worth it for RV's stories.
I want the Monroe Fielderbinder collection, and I want it NOW.
p.s. He takes some nice potshots at fraternities, boat shoes, and drinking games in this book, too. I agree."
"If I could've given this book 3.5 stars, I would've. At it's peak, this book is vintage Wallace, giving us an inimitable mix of absurdity/sincerity/technique that makes reading a joy. However, all of Wallace's shortcomings are also on display, not the least of which, for me at least, is Wallace's inability to conjure a satiating ending. I know many, many, many will disagree with me on this, but I think stories need real endings and Wallace continually (twice) refuses to give us an ending. In Infinite Jest it was more forgivable because the book was so good and the ending was still a highly affecting scene. Here, the story just sort of falls off a cliff, leaving the reader to interpret the ending in various ways. I didn't like that.
I'd still recommend this book quickly to most capable readers."
"Completely off-the-wall book. When I bought it, the clerk said "very interesting novel... if you like it, try Infinite Jest." Turned out to be very good advice-- Infinite Jest is clearly DFW's magnum opus, but its over 1,000 pages and at times very hard to get through (and in fact, intentionally annoying). At half that length, and with less than half as many characters and sperate plot-lines, Broom of the System is a more easily surmountable challenge, but still extremely bonkers, with excellent writing style and masterfully executed flourishes of meta-narrative. Overall, a great way to become acquainted with this very noteworthy author."
"I don't think Wallace ever fulfilled his potential, or maybe his calling was not as a fiction writer. This book may be greater than the sum of its parts, as Wallace fans would probably argue, but for me, after a griping, precise, well-rendered first episode, it sadly devolves into a mix of the life-like and the false, the resonant and the flat. Vigorous and the psychiatrist and the grandmother are not characters so much as concepts, and their interaction with some of the more realistic elements of the narrative is strained. I wanted to like this much more than I actually did."
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