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The Broom Of The System

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( 24,102 ratings, 2,061 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace is a witty and intellectually engaging novel centred around Lenore Beadsman, a young woman navigating existential and identity crises in a bizarre, fictionalised version of Cleveland. The story explores themes of language, reality, and relationships, all embedded within humorous and surreal scenarios that challenge the boundaries between narrative and reality. Faced with peculiar family dynamics and odd occurrences, Lenore's journey delves into the complexity of human existence.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate a quirky, postmodern narrative filled with wit and philosophical undertones. It's perfect for readers who relive complex characters, innovative storytelling, and a blend of humour and existential musings.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

David Foster Wallace's fiercely original, bracingly funny first novel, reissued to coincide with his new short story collection.

* Review coverage across national press

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Broom Of The System by David Foster Wallace is praised for its daring and humour, offering a bizarre yet engaging narrative. The story is described as a zany picaresque adventure that captures a sense of contemporary America in chaos. Noted for its dazzling and haunting qualities, the book showcases Wallace's impressive talent and has been recognised as sweepingly successful.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780349109237

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 August 1997

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Abacus

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 31.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 322g

Pages: 480

About the Author

David Foster Wallace is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Lannan Award for Fiction, the Paris Review's Aga Kahn Prize and John Train Prize for Humour, and the O. Henry Award. He lives in downstate Illinois.

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