Fate Time and Language presents Wallace's brilliant critique of Taylor's work. Written long
before the publication of his fiction and essays Wallace's thesis reveals his great skepticism
of abstract thinking made to function as a negation of something more genuine and real. He was
especially suspicious of certain paradigms of thought-the cerebral aestheticism of modernism
the clever gimmickry of postmodernism-that abandoned the very old traditional human verities
that have to do with spirituality and emotion and community. As Wallace rises to meet the
challenge to free will presented by Taylor we witness the developing perspective of this major
novelist along with his struggle to establish solid logical ground for his convictions. This
volume edited by Steven M. Cahn and Maureen Eckert reproduces Taylor's original article and
other works on fatalism cited by Wallace. James Ryerson's introduction connects Wallace's early
philosophical work to the themes and explorations of his later fiction and Jay Garfield
supplies a critical biographical epilogue.
