David Foster Wallace is invariably seen as an emphatically American figure. Lucas Thompson challenges this consensus, arguing that Wallace's investments in various international literary traditions are central to both his artistic practice and his critique of US culture. Thompson shows how, time and again, Wallace's fiction draws on a diverse range of global texts, appropriating various forms of world literature in the attempt to craft fiction that critiques US culture from oblique and unexpected vantage points. Using a wide range of comparative case studies, and drawing on extensive archival research, Global Wallace reveals David Foster Wallace's substantial debts to such unexpected figures as Jamaica Kincaid, Julio Cortazar, Jean Rhys, Octavio Paz, Leo Tolstoy, Zbigniew Herbert, and Albert Camus, among many others. It also offers a more comprehensive account of the key influences that Wallace scholars have already perceived, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, and Manuel Puig. By reassessing Wallace's body of work in relation to five broadly construed geographic territories -- Latin America, Russia, Eastern Europe, France, and Africa -- the book reveals the mechanisms with which Wallace played particular literary traditions off one another, showing how he appropriated vastly different global texts within his own fiction. By expanding the geographic coordinates of Wallace's work in this way, Global Wallace reconceptualizes contemporary American fiction, as being embedded within a global exchange of texts and ideas.

David Foster Wallace is invariably seen as an emphatically American figure. Lucas Thompson challenges this consensus, arguing that Wallace's investments in various international literary traditions are central to both his artistic practice and his critique of US culture. Thompson shows how, time and again, Wallace's fiction draws on a diverse range of global texts, appropriating various forms of world literature in the attempt to craft fiction that critiques US culture from oblique and unexpected vantage points. Using a wide range of comparative case studies, and drawing on extensive archival research, Global Wallace reveals David Foster Wallace's substantial debts to such unexpected figures as Jamaica Kincaid, Julio Cortazar, Jean Rhys, Octavio Paz, Leo Tolstoy, Zbigniew Herbert, and Albert Camus, among many others. It also offers a more comprehensive account of the key influences that Wallace scholars have already perceived, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, and Manuel Puig. By reassessing Wallace's body of work in relation to five broadly construed geographic territories -- Latin America, Russia, Eastern Europe, France, and Africa -- the book reveals the mechanisms with which Wallace played particular literary traditions off one another, showing how he appropriated vastly different global texts within his own fiction. By expanding the geographic coordinates of Wallace's work in this way, Global Wallace reconceptualizes contemporary American fiction, as being embedded within a global exchange of texts and ideas.

"What would it be like to witness the birth of Jesus Christ? Who were the shepherds chosen to greet him on the night of His birth and why were they so special? Where was the actual site of His birth? Did Jesus Christ marry and did He father childen? A Shepherd's Tale, answers these historic questions while portraying them in a story of endearing characters.There have been many Christmas stories written over the past years, many fanciful and based on fictional circumstances. What makes this story so fascinating and different is that it is written as a historical novel with the description of place, time and circumstances based on fact. Samuel is a simple shepherd, but the flocks he cares for are very special. He is the head shepherd of the Temple Flock at Migdal Eder or the Watchtower of the Flock. Migdal Eder is located southeast of Bethlehem on the rolling hills outside the little village of King David's birth. The site was named long ago by Micah, the prophet, who proclaimed it would be the place where the advent of the Redeemer would be announced. It is here, where the story takes place as told through the eyes of an old man who has seen much pain and unhappiness in his life. Once a wealthy and powerful man, Samuel loses his family, his home, his wealth and powerful position in Jerusalem. He becomes a bitter, drunken man living on the streets of Bethlehem, when a wise old grouch befriends him and gives Samuel insight into life's greatest lessons. Only through devotion to friends and sheep, does he find true happiness. Through Samuel's eyes we get a firsthand and more accurate account of the beginning of the greatest life ever lived. With "A Shepherd's Tale," comes a new perspectiveof the Christmas Story, rich in the history and culture of Judea and vivid and fresh in the details of the time of Herod the Great. If you are looking for a great holiday story to read as a family or a quick enjoyable read by the fireplace this is it." Brad Thompson, author of Excellence in Music.