David Foster Wallace's first novel - finally in English. The book features, among other things, discussions about Wittgenstein, a talking cockatiel, a city shaped like Jane Mansfield, a man who wants to fill the world with his fat, malfunctioning phone lines, a missing grandmother, and a baby food empire. Lenore Beadsman works at the call center of an unsuccessful publishing house in Ohio, owned by her boyfriend Rick Vigorous. Rick loves her dearly but has issues with sex and tells her stories in which Lenore often plays the leading role as a substitute. To resolve his problems, he regularly visits a psychiatrist, whom Lenore also consults. Lenore's relationship with her family is strained; she feels a connection only to her grandmother and namesake, Lenore Sr. However, Lenore Sr. has disappeared from the nursing home.