Both Flesh and Not

Wallace’s previously unpublished essays are collected in this latest release following his death in 2008. The essays here are gathered from over two decades of the author’s writing and cover a variety of topics, including an excerpt from Wallace’s personal vocabulary list. Narrating Wallace presents a unique problem: how to handle the many footnotes that are so important in his writing? In this audio edition, dual narrators accomplish this task. Robert Petkoff—who also narrated The Pale King and The Broom of the System—reads the bulk of Wallace’s essays, while Katherine Kellgren voices the personal dictionary entries and footnotes. This creates a perfect balance, especially when Kellgren’s reading underscores the wry footnotes. Both readers give strong performances alone, but together they manage to accurately recreate for listeners the dry, smart rhythm of the author’s prose. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Nov.)