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Photocopy of an early partial draft provided to the publisher. Loose quarto sheets with unprinted black stiff cardstock at the front and back acting as makeshift covers. [1], 251pp., plus seven additional "A" pages, photomechanically reproduced rectos only. With a photocopy of a two-page letter from Wallace to his agent and another of a one-page letter from his agent to Little, Brown submitting this draft, along with 20 pages of reviews of Wallace s previous work. Fine, with only subtle wear to the card wrappers. A fascinating early version of the first two sections of *Infinite Jest*, sent by Wallace's agent Bonnie Nadell to Michael Pietsch of Little, Brown and Company in June, 1992, four years before they published the book to critical acclaim. Accompanying the draft is a photo copy of a two-page typed letter from Wallace, dated April 15, 1992, to "Dear Bonnie and Gerry and Whatever Other Trusted and Hopefully Trustworthy Persons End Up Reading This." In this letter, which apparently was sent to his agents with the first two sections of the book, he describes *Infinite Jest* as "a novel, although structurally it's not much like any other novels I've seen." Wallace describes his reasons for sending sections 1 and 2 first "I am nervous about this whole thing, not only because of advance-phobias, but because there are ways in which these first 250-odd pages differ from other parts of *Infinite Jest* and from the completed project as a whole" and spends several paragraphs unpacking them. In true Wallace fashion, about a half-page following the letter's close is dedicated to "Required Caveats." Wallace notes in the letter that he estimates that "at least 30% of the material in the present sections 1 and 2 will be cut from the final completed mss.," as well as the fact that pages 195-251 are "at least a draft rougher than the first 194pp." His reasoning is that most serious editing should not be undertaken until the manuscript is finished. April 1992 was a difficult time for Wallace. According to *Rolling Stone*, he had previously been working as a towel boy at a fancy health club in Auburndale, Massachusetts. Around this time he wrote his agent Bonnie Nadell that he was considering giving up writing. In the month he sent the letter present here, he and his good friend, author Jonathan Franzen moved to Syracuse, New York, where Wallace found his second wind and wrote steadily for a year; by the summer of 1993 (he had by then moved back to Illinois), the first draft was 3/4 finished. It clocked in at over 1,700 pages. Pietsch, to whom this document was addressed, would end up editing *Infinite Jest* for Little, Brown. In an interview in *Sonora Review*, Pietsch recalls: "I received on submission from David Wallace s agent, Bonnie Nadell, around 150 pages of *Infinite Jest*, the opening section. They were wild, smart, funny, sad, and unlike any pages of manuscript I'd ever held in my hands. The range of voices and settings sent me reeling." This is likely that same draft with the differences in this draft from the final published text as complex as the novel itself. The most immediately notable are the opening pages of this draft were moved to page 27 of the book and Hal, whom Wallace called the novel's protagonist, is de-aged from 13 to 10. From there things become quite amorphous with countless small changes of names and phrases, sections rearranged upon final publication, and many parts added or greatly expanded, we suspect, becoming the basis for nearly 400 pages of the published text. A true Wallace rarity, almost certainly reproduced in very small numbers, and worthy of greater study. We could locate only one other copy, in Wallace's papers at the University of Texas. N° de réf. du vendeur 542176
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