The Broom of the System

A Novel

By: David Foster Wallace

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The "dazzling, exhilarating" (San Francisco Chronicle) debut novel from the best-selling author of Infinite Jest, available for the first time as an audiobook.

At the center of The Broom of the System is the betwitching (and also bewildered) heroine, Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman. The year is 1990 and the place is a slightly altered Cleveland, Ohio, which sits on the edge of a suburban wasteland-the Great Ohio Desert. Lenore works as a switchboard attendant at a publishing firm, and in addition to her mind-numbing job, she has a few other problems. Her great-grandmother, a one-time student of Wittgenstein, has disappeared with twenty-five other inmates of the Shaker Heights Nursing Home. Her beau (and boss), editor-in-chief Rick Vigorous, is insanely jealous. And her cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler, has suddenly started spouting a mixture of psychobabble, Auden, and the King James Bible, which may propel him to stardom on a Christian fundamentalist television program.

Fiercely intelligent and entertaining, this debut novel from one of the most innovative writers of our generation explores the paradoxes of language, storytelling, and reality.

©2004 David Foster Wallace (P)2010 Hachette

Critic reviews

"Daring, hilarious... a zany picaresque adventure of contemporary America run amok." ( The New York Times)

"Wonderful... a cathartic experience with lots of laughs and lots of deeper meanings." ( The Washington Post Book World)

DFW Not To Be Missed!

A classic DFW story line with some of the BEST narration I've heard yet. It's not "DFW Lite", it's "not to be missed"!

Too fast

It would be nice if the narrator would take a breath now and then to give the listener a moment to absorb what they are hearing. It is manic and not enjoyable at regular speed. Slowing it down to .75 makes him sound drunk. Amazon could fix the problem by giving their customers the ability to make finer adjustments to the speed, but I guess that is too much to ask for.

Awk!

What made the experience of listening to The Broom of the System the most enjoyable?

Robert Petkoff did a spectacular job. I even liked the singing. Wonderful.

What did you like best about this story?

Listening.

Which scene was your favorite?

That it lingers like one big long scene in my mind.

If you could take any character from The Broom of the System out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The author, may he rest in peace.

dope as fffuuuccckkkkkkk

dope
dope
dope
dope
dope
dope
dope
dopedope
dope
dope
doep
doped
oeldkeld
doooooope so so so so so so so so so so so so fucking goo. good good ok good. real real gooooooooooouda gouda gouda

An amazing performance by Robert Petkoff 👏

The narrator understood/appreciated the book. a fantastic performance of the characters and dialogue. thank you

Evidence I WASTED my College years.

I sure wasted a lot of time in college is all I can say. All in all, not a bad PoMo novel from a undergraduate senior thesis. Some ideas didn't seem to be finished, or put away, but that also seems to be a familiar theme in DFW's work. Not my favorite DFW, but I'd still prefer most days to read mediocre DFW to good/great anyone else.

Wallace never disappointments

Genius - exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability

Genius is how I would describe the author David Foster Wallace. The novels and short stories I've read or listens to are smart and impactful (if thats even a word). You're drawn into an alternative reality, the characters diverse but relatable. I've yet to be disappointed.

the music break throughs are awful!

pretty good book by David author Wallace but the story is interupted hourly with loud whimsical music.

What's The Most Important Part of a Broom?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Maybe

Who was your favorite character and why?

Vlad the Impaler (a.k.a Ugolino the Magnificent)

Which scene was your favorite?

The most humorous part of this, I thought, was a group of very Pynchonesque monologs where one of the characters who co-owns a book publishing business goes into great details describing the unbelievable and over-the-top story submissions he receives from disturbed young writers.

If you could take any character from The Broom of the System out to dinner, who would it be and why?

It sure wouldn't be Norman Bombardini!

Any additional comments?

This gets off to a real bad start by introducing a bunch of narcissistic college kids in 1981, who get high and try to analyze everything from rape to Cat Stevens. Luckily, this is the worst part of the novel and it is just an interduction to characters the story fallows nine years later in 1990 (three years in the future of the book publication) The Broom of the System is an enjoyable comedy and should not be compared to DFW's followup magnum opus Infinite Jest published a whole decade later, because it's not anywhere as massive in content... nor size for that matter. The Broom of the System is a comedy that, I'm guessing, is an influenced blend between 'Crying of Lot 49' and 'A Confederacy of Dunces' with a little bit of Kafka thrown in there. There are some great comedic characters.

Partners with God (Club)

While enjoyable, you can tell this is his early work. The performance of the narrator was very good, especially the final segment with the Partnership Singers, but I did not like the interludes of music that came up periodically between scenes. It seemed out of place and detracted from the listening experience for me. I would recommend this to anyone seeking to round out there repertoire of David's work.