The Broom of the System Audiobook By David Foster Wallace cover art

The Broom of the System

A Novel

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The Broom of the System

By: David Foster Wallace
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
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The "dazzling, exhilarating" (San Francisco Chronicle) debut novel from the best-selling author of Infinite Jest, available for the first time as an audiobook.

At the center of The Broom of the System is the betwitching (and also bewildered) heroine, Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman. The year is 1990 and the place is a slightly altered Cleveland, Ohio, which sits on the edge of a suburban wasteland-the Great Ohio Desert. Lenore works as a switchboard attendant at a publishing firm, and in addition to her mind-numbing job, she has a few other problems. Her great-grandmother, a one-time student of Wittgenstein, has disappeared with twenty-five other inmates of the Shaker Heights Nursing Home. Her beau (and boss), editor-in-chief Rick Vigorous, is insanely jealous. And her cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler, has suddenly started spouting a mixture of psychobabble, Auden, and the King James Bible, which may propel him to stardom on a Christian fundamentalist television program.

Fiercely intelligent and entertaining, this debut novel from one of the most innovative writers of our generation explores the paradoxes of language, storytelling, and reality.

©2004 David Foster Wallace (P)2010 Hachette Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Witty

Critic reviews

"Daring, hilarious... a zany picaresque adventure of contemporary America run amok." ( The New York Times)
"Wonderful... a cathartic experience with lots of laughs and lots of deeper meanings." ( The Washington Post Book World)
Humorous Dialogue • Compelling Characters • Philosophical Depth • Creative Storytelling • Beautiful Moments
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Love the book, love the narration. DETEST the random obnoxious music cut ins—often in the middle of chapters???? Horrible decision

GET RID OF THE MUSIC

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It would be nice if the narrator would take a breath now and then to give the listener a moment to absorb what they are hearing. It is manic and not enjoyable at regular speed. Slowing it down to .75 makes him sound drunk. Amazon could fix the problem by giving their customers the ability to make finer adjustments to the speed, but I guess that is too much to ask for.

Too fast

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A classic DFW story line with some of the BEST narration I've heard yet. It's not "DFW Lite", it's "not to be missed"!

DFW Not To Be Missed!

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What made the experience of listening to The Broom of the System the most enjoyable?

Robert Petkoff did a spectacular job. I even liked the singing. Wonderful.

What did you like best about this story?

Listening.

Which scene was your favorite?

That it lingers like one big long scene in my mind.

If you could take any character from The Broom of the System out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The author, may he rest in peace.

Awk!

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dope
dope
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doped
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doooooope so so so so so so so so so so so so fucking goo. good good ok good. real real gooooooooooouda gouda gouda

dope as fffuuuccckkkkkkk

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The narrator understood/appreciated the book. a fantastic performance of the characters and dialogue. thank you

An amazing performance by Robert Petkoff 👏

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Den här boken är för dig som tycker Wittgenstein är rolig. Den är hysteriskt rolig och hysteriskt realistisk. I loved it!

So many LOLZ

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Loved the first half. The plot went nowhere and ended with a half-clever non-ending. Very dissapointed.

Great Start, Well Written, Awful Ending

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Wonderful writing and performing! Mr. Foster Wallace 's creativity is unbounded. Four words remain to be included in this review...

Genius!

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Broom is a great debut novel. Wallace never thought of it as an example of his best work but there’s still a lot to enjoy. It’s his most narratively focused book, telling a cohesive story start to finish about a girl named Lenore Beadsman who is looking for her lost grandma in the Great Ohio Desert lol. Enjoy

The emergence of a genius writer

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