The Pale King cover art

The Pale King

 Preview

Audible Standard 1-month free trial

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo + applicable tax after 30-day trial. Cancel Anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

The Pale King

Written by: David Foster Wallace
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $48.72

Buy Now for $48.72

About this listen

 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.

"The Pale King is by turns funny, shrewd, suspenseful, piercing, smart, terrifying, and rousing." --Laura Miller, Salon Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Witty Funny Socialism
All stars
Most Relevant
Feels unfinished and comes with an aura of sadness knowing this was the last piece of work he left behind but regardless of all that it is a piece of art in every sense and David foster wallace is a genius. My only wish is that he wrote more

David foster wallace. What more really needs to be said

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This audiobook does not follow the format or full text written and published in print. All of the footnotes are missing and occasional words are changed or dropped. Good work, poorly produced.

Audiobook Not Recommended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.