Gesturing Toward Reality: David Foster Wallace and Philosophy

ISBN 10: 1441162658 / ISBN 13: 9781441162656

Published by Bloomsbury Academic, 2014

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Gesturing Toward Reality: David Foster Wallace and Philosophy
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1441162658
• ISBN 13: 9781441162656
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Asked in 2006 about the philosophical nature of his fiction, the late American writer David Foster Wallace replied, "If some people read my fiction and see it as fundamentally about philosophical ideas, what it probably means is that these are pieces where the characters are not as alive and interesting as I meant them to be."

Gesturing Toward Reality looks into this quality of Wallace's work―when the writer dons the philosopher's cap―and sees something else. With essays offering a careful perusal of Wallace's extensive and heavily annotated self-help library, re-considerations of Wittgenstein's influence on his fiction, and serious explorations into the moral and spiritual landscape where Wallace lived and wrote, this collection offers a perspective on Wallace that even he was not always ready to see. Since so much has been said in specifically literary circles about Wallace's philosophical acumen, it seems natural to have those with an interest in both philosophy and Wallace's writing address how these two areas come together.

About the Author

Robert Bolger has a M.A. in Theology from Union Theological Seminary and a PhD in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate University where he Studied with D.Z. Phillips. He is the author of Kneeling at the Altar of Science: The Mistaken Path of Contemporary Religious Scientism (Pickwick Press, 2012) and editor (with Scott Korb) of Gesturing Toward Reality: David Foster Wallace and Philosophy (Bloomsbury Press, 2014). His website can be found at robertbolger.com