The Broom Of The System

The Broom of the System is a work by David Foster Wallace that showcases the author's remarkable talent as a visionary, craftsman, and comedian. Zadie Smith once remarked on Wallace's prowess: "He can do anything with a piece of prose, and it is a humbling experience to see him go to work on what has passed up till now as 'modern fiction.' He's so modern he's in a different time-space continuum from the rest of us. Goddamn him."

The story revolves around the mysterious disappearance of Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman's great-grandmother, along with twenty-five other elderly inmates from a Shaker Heights nursing home. This event leaves Lenore feeling emotionally stranded on the edge of the Great Ohio Desert.

However, this is just one of many challenges faced by the hapless switchboard operator. Her ongoing affair with her boss, Rick Vigorous, the unexpected TV stardom of her talking cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler, and a series of other minor catastrophes threaten to push Lenore's quest for love and self-determination to new heights of spasmodic weirdness.