The Pale King

By: David Foster Wallace

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

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 Foster Wallace. But as he immerses himself in a routine so tedious and repetitive that new employees receive boredom-survival training, he learns of the extraordinary variety of personalities drawn to this strange calling. And he has arrived at a moment when forces within the IRS are plotting to eliminate even what little humanity and dignity the work still has.

The Pale King remained unfinished at the time of David Foster Wallace's death, but it is a deeply compelling and satisfying novel, hilarious and fearless, and as original as anything Wallace ever undertook. It grapples directly with ultimate questions - questions of life's meaning and of the value of work and society - through characters imagined with the interior force and generosity that were Wallace's unique gifts. Along the way it suggests a new idea of heroism and commands infinite respect for one of the most daring writers of our time.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2011 David Foster Wallace (P)2011 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"One hell of a document and a valiant tribute to the late Wallace.” (Publishers Weekly)

"Deeply sad, deeply philosophical...The Pale King will be minutely examined by longtime fans for the reflexive light it sheds on Wallace's oeuvre and his life. But it may also snag the attention of newcomers, giving them a window...into this immensely gifted writer's vision of the human condition as lived out in the middle of America." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"The Pale King is by turns funny, shrewd, suspenseful, piercing, smart, terrifying, and rousing." (Laura Miller, Salon)

I am Leonard Steyck!!!

Great read! David foster Wallace is wonderful to listen to and is almost hypnotic. Love this final novel!

Tour De Force

Best American writer of late 20th, early 21st Century. This novel is a wonderful coda.

Narrator sounds a lot like DFW himself

Would you listen to The Pale King again? Why?

Yes, because the point is not just a linear narrative -- lots of things going on that intertwine, and it isn't clear the first time around how that is happening.

What other book might you compare The Pale King to and why?

I can't help comparing it to other David Foster Wallace books. Any DFW fan would, I think, find this of interest, but the fact that he died before finishing it, and someone else put it together and got it into print makes assessing it problematical.

Have you listened to any of Robert Petkoff’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to any other Robert Petkoss performances, but I liked this one very much.

Any additional comments?

I was reading the print edition and got bogged down about halfway through. I got this, hoping it would help me get through it, and it did, but the book itself is just -- erratic. Some parts much more interesting than others.

Only for those who are brave enough

Indulgent, droning, pointless, ugly, but the most human document I have read that has come of the past 15 years.

Loved it

Very trippy book. I am goin to finish reading the book as well. I love David Wallace and his outlook on the world

Incomplete with flashes of brilliance

I put this novel off for a long time, figuring I would be disappointed and unsatisfied with an incomplete work. But, alas, I craved more DFW and decided to give it a crack. I’m very happy I did.
Like other reviewers have noted, this is a meditation on boredom. So, as such, it can (in my opinion) be boring at times, but those sections of the book are not without value and contribute to the overall theme of tedium. I don’t think I would have been able to get through the hard copy of the novel, so I’m glad the audiobook was an option.
While several reviews had negative comments about the narrator, I enjoy Robert Petkoff’s narration of DFW’s novels. I feel he knows Wallace’s work well enough to do it justice and emphasize the right words and inflections that, I think, Wallace intended.

I gave this book 4 stars because, while I enjoyed it, it is clearly an incomplete novel that wasn’t fully edited to the standards of Wallace’s previous works. This is commented on by the editor in the preface, and I think it’s important to understand that before starting and maybe read this as a series of essays with a cogent, albeit not always contiguous, theme.
The last quarter of the book in particular is repeatedly laugh out loud funny and demonstrates some of DFWs best writing of his career. However, if you’re looking for closure or some more cogent narrative, you’ll be disappointed at the abrupt ending and lack of structure of this incomplete novel. I’m glad I listened and would highly recommend it to any DFW fan.

Welcome to the machine

If you could sum up The Pale King in three words, what would they be?

Brilliant, excruciating minutia

What did you like best about this story?

DFW

What about Robert Petkoff???s performance did you like?

Flawless, clean narration

If you could rename The Pale King, what would you call it?

Bang Your Head Against The Wall

Any additional comments?

This is my first exposure to DFW and I loved it. Long stretches of the novel are tedious, yes, but there are sections - three come to mind - that are just breath-taking in skill, technique and story. As a commentary on life in general and the travesty of work could not be better. I came of age in the mid-1970's to mid-1980's where a good portion of the novel is based so was able to connect immediately there.

Oh, and a I dislike this new review system. I'm sure it passed all sorts of statistical analysis indicating it would improve responses, but it is really a dumbed-down drag.

Meh

I wanted to like and gave it every chance. Ultimately when the book was done, the first words out if my mouth were, "glad that's over." Writing was great and performance was exceptional, but its ultimately a totally forgettable tale.

The saddest ending I ever read, that never was

English died with Wallace.
Though remnant beams still smolder;
This, its epitaph,
Cannot bear the weight
Or the color

could have been a great book

as it stands,it's a collection of interesting,somewhat disjoint vignettes. worth the read/listen for dfw afficionados