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Full Description
In the years since his suicide, scholars have explored David Foster Wallace's writing in transdisciplinary ways. This is the first book of its kind to discuss how Wallace understood and wrote about religion.
At present, the scholarly community is sharply divided on how best to read Wallace on religious questions. Some interpret him to be a Nietzschean nihilist, while others see in him a profoundly spiritual, even mystical thinker. Some read Wallace as a Buddhist thinker, and others as a Christian existentialist. Involved at every level of this discussion are Wallace's experiences in Twelve Step recovery programs, according to which only a higher power can help one remove unwanted defects of character.
The multifarious essays in this volume by literature, religion, and philosophy scholars in the Wallace community delve into Wallace's life and writings to advance the conversation about Wallace and religion. While they may disagree with one another in substantial ways, the contributors argue that Wallace was not only deliberate in his writings on religious themes, but also displayed an impressive level of theological nuance.
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Understanding Seeking Faith: An Introduction to Religion in David Foster Wallace's Life (Martin Brick, Ohio Dominican University, USA)
1. Came to Believe: The Religion of Alcoholics Anonymous in Infinite Jest (Rob Short, University of Florida, USA)
2. A Less "Bullshitty" Way to Live: The Pragmatic Spirituality of David Foster Wallace (Robert K. Bolger, Independent Scholar, USA)
3. "Not Another Word": Nietzsche and Wallace on Overcoming Nihilism (Michael McGowan, Florida Southwestern State College, USA)
4. In G.O.D. We Trust: The Desert of the Religious in The Broom of the System (Vernon W. Cisney, Gettysburg College, USA)
5. "Saying God with a Straight Face": Towards an Understanding of Christian Soteriology in Infinite Jest (Dave Laird, Independent Scholar, Canada)
6. Infinite Jest, C.S. Lewis's Tao, and Religious Community (Peter Spaulding, Marquette University, USA)
7. "Somewhat Lost and Desolate Inside": Overcoming Acedia in The Pale King (Michael O'Connell, Siena Heights University, USA)
8. "The Moral Equivalent of War": Fungible Transcendentals in The Pale King (Robert Hamilton, Temple College, USA)
9. A Spoon, Some Eskimos, and the Wise Old Fish: Religion and the Evolution of Wallace's Kenyon Commencement Address (Matt Bucher, Independent Scholar, USA, and Martin Brick, Ohio Dominican University, USA)
10. David Foster Wallace and Postsecularism (Ryan Lackey, University of California, Berkeley, USA)
11. "There's Always a Mormon Around When You Don't Want One": What Wallace Can Teach the Church Media Machine (Jessica E. Sagers, Harvard University, USA)
12. Zen Buddhist Philosophy Lurking in the Work of David Foster Wallace (Krzysztof Piekarski, University of Texas at Austin, USA)
Conclusion: The Religious Worlds of David Foster Wallace--Both Fiction and Not (Michael McGowan, Florida Southwestern State College, USA)
Index
