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'll Take It Over no-DFW

This is definitely an UNFINISHED novel. I imagine if DFW knew The Pale King would get published in its obvious infancy, he would have stuck around long enough to finish it or have taken it with him. That said, I'm really glad the publishers took the time and care to give us what they could. There is absolute brilliance in this book that can only make one wonder and fantasize about what the final finished product might have been. If you love and "understand" the author, get this book.

Too much disconnected information.

Would you try another book from David Foster Wallace and/or Robert Petkoff?

Don't think I would.

What was most disappointing about David Foster Wallace’s story?

Never quite got to a point to pull my interest. Each time I got into the story, it wandered away.

What three words best describe Robert Petkoff’s voice?

Long, long descriptions.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

Very disappointed.

A Wonderful Study of Boredom

If you’ve listened to books by David Foster Wallace before, how does this one compare?

It wouldn't really be fair to compare this to the author's other works as this s an incomplete manuscript pelvic by Walace's editor.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I could see it as a semi-episodic HBO series where the characters and stories are loosely related to one another.

Any additional comments?

The book is often meandering and sometimes disjointed but that is to be expected from an incomplete, unorganized, and "tornadic" (to borrow a phrase from the author) manuscript, such as The Pale King. I feel this an important work for fans of David Foster Wallace to read. However, don't go into thinking it's going to be the next Infinite Jest. Even if DFW had finished this book it would have been a completely different beast than his previous works. It is a study in boredom and the author does a spectacular job of exploring and examining that topic. He, at times, truly makes the reader/listener know what it feels like to work a tedious job, day after day.

The word is forever less with David Foster Wallace gone. He was an amazing, brilliant talent that will never be replicated. If only we could have seen where his genius would have gone. He will be missed.

And I still give it 5 stars

I can see why some people hate this book. I can see why some people never make it through the whole thing.There are sections of this book that I hate. Its true, and yet, the good parts (and there are many) are so incredibly good that I still give it 5 unflinching stars.

read it!

loved it! hell of a ride! would recommend to anyone interested in wrestling with their inner demons. hurrah to the conquest of our "ambient boredom!" thanks Audible!

3.88 stars.......A Tour De Force? Um.....no

I would only recommend this to die-hard DFW fans. David Foster Wallace was a brilliant author, and Infinite Jest is my favorite audiobook. While The Pale King features a few sections of DFW's brilliance, it is unfinished and would have looked extremely different had he lived to finish it. The Pale King is novel for those who are already familiar with DFW and want to see what he was working on at the end. It is not a place to start with DFW. I've heard some refer to this novel as a Tour De Force. in my opinion, it is not. If you want DFW at his best, a true Tour De Force, invest the time in Infinite Jest.

Overall rating: 3.88 stars

My Second Reading by DFW

I am relieved to announce I have lived up to my vow to read the 2012 Pulitzer Prize trilogy of finalists who were passed over (indeed, no prize was awarded); and have with some difficulty, lived through “The Pale King,” David Foster Wallace’s unfinished novel.

Certainly the most complex, the longest, of the three candidates ("Train Dreams" and "Swamplandia" the other two candidates), as an audio book it proved challenging without printed (visible) markers to identify when the story would make a first-gear leap into fifth (a continuous disorientation of ever-changing themes). The characters were really pretty unlikable, or at least unwarm-uppable to. And of course, the basic landscape, the IRS, was not a topic I really cared to learn much about; after all, I know more than I need by simply being a citizen trying to avoid getting creamed.

Beyond the opening, negative comments, Wallace’s stream-of-consciousness writing ultimately arrested me, albeit somewhat late into the read. Raised in the Midwest myself, I realized that I knew these people, that they populated my neighborhoods, my living room, as I was growing up. Aswim in details, lost in tedious jobs, jockeying for promotions, and living even more banal lives outside of work, I developed perhaps a camaraderie for these misfits and sympathy toward their compulsive, eccentric, and left-brained worlds. And, yes, I learned more about the IRS that I care to share, primarily because none of it is useful in the pay-less-tax arena.

Recommend this book? Well, I did suggest to my CPA to read it. And I have become compulsed to pick up Wallace’s “Infinite Jest,” his landmark book that catapulted him to heady fame. So perhaps not a must-read, but something to consider. Bear in mind this reviewer attempted to read Ulysses 3 times and never managed to read past the toilet scene.

Tedious with some great high points

The vocal performance is what really makes this shine. The book is a tedious slog peppered with really interesting fun bits.

I know the main point of the book is to give that feeling if mind numbing tedium and banality. I mean it's about the lives of irs agents. Yet, there are bits that are so interesting that make you never want to stop reading until you hit this other bit that makes you want to never read again. I guess that's what you get with an incomplete book.

Meh...

Brilliant in places, but leaves a feeling of being incomplete throughout the entire piece. Maybe the incompleteness is the point... It certainly does provoke thought and self examination. Overall I'd say it was worth it.

Brilliantly Imperfect

This novel is moreso the silhouette of a story, while that's neither good nor bad, it's not for everybody. But it actually manages to evoke profoundness in the plot pieces that were arranged together. Robert Petkoff brings all of these characters to life and his deliveries are top notch.

I wasn't sure of what to expect going into this, admittedly this is my first DFW novel unless 'You End Up Becoming Yourself' counts by proxy. However, The Pale King works so well as an audiobook, it's the ideal commute companion. You're treated to these character moments with a few breaks of tax talk strewn in, which you really can't help but tune out. But I feel like that's intentional, it allows you to reflect on the previous vignette and take it in.

And the vignettes are masterfully human. From a near constant preoccupation with excessive sweating, to a tumultuous upbringing and the adult it produces. It's an honest shame that the audiobook chapters are cut up into five minute segments that don't take the written chapters into account. Otherwise, I feel like I could revisit the Drinien and Rand exchange and the Something About Paying Attention segment repeatedly. Wallace's prose, with Petkoff's delivery is that effective.

I especially like that the audiobook includes a companion PDF containing some of Wallace's notes that couldn't be incorporated into the novel. Reading it after listening really added to the experience.

Again, I really don't like how the numerical audiobook chapters have no indication of the actual chapters they cover.