David Foster Wallace's SOMETHING TO DO WITH PAYING ATTENTION (from THE PALE KING)>> Finally, FINALLY, I've worked up the courage to lecture on one of my hugest literary heroes.
David Foster Wallace's SOMETHING TO DO WITH PAYING ATTENTION (from THE PALE KING)>> Finally, FINALLY, I've worked up the courage to lecture on one of my hugest literary heroes.  
Podcast: The Foxed Page
Published On: Mon Jul 06 2026
Description: This novella--an excerpt of THE PALE KING--was a revelation. Just as its publisher Sarah McNally says in the preface, Wallace's cult-status fame as a challenging writer can be daunting, and his oeuvre is so large, it's hard to know where to begin. This is where to begin! The lecture is probably best heard if you've read The Pale King (and/or this amazing section itself) but I like to think lovers of DFW will get lots out of this even if you haven't read him in years. It was SO GOOD to return to this work: his later, more grounded, warmer, incredibly moving work. In this case, about tax law and radical tedium. Doesn't get better than that.