It was to be published on April 15th--a fitting on-sale date for a novel about the IRS. Instead, The Pale King, David Foster Wallace's unfinished posthumous novel, began landing in bookstores several days early, causing book reviewers everywhere to stop the presses (or whatever the digital equivalent is these days).

Wallace, who committed suicide in 2008, is considered by many to be one of America's literary icons. His 1996 postmodern and heavily footnoted novel Infinite Jest appears on Time Magazine's "All-Time 100 Greatest Novels" list. Wallace had reportedly been researching and writing The Pale King since about 2000, and the book remained unfinished at the time of his death. Wallace's editor, Michael Pietsch, spent two years compiling and editing a manuscript from the many piles and stacks of pages that were found by Wallace's widow. Now this novel by the Character Approved literary great is on bookstore shelves for all to read.

A few early reviews have begun to pop up online. Though all of the reviewers admit that the book is not perfect, the overall reception has been nothing short of glowing. Writing for the April edition of Esquire , Benjamin Alsup calls The Pale King "one of the saddest and most lovely books I've ever read." In a thorough and lengthy review, Time's Lev Grossman says of The Pale King: "Despite its shattered state and its unpromising subject matter, or possibly because of them, The Pale King represents Wallace's finest work as a novelist."

In the days and weeks to follow, much will be said about David Foster Wallace and his unfinished novel. I recommend reading it now, before the buzz and hype become too loud, so that the author's unique voice can still be heard clearly.

[Image: David Foster Wallace, by Marion Ettlinger/Corbis Outline and Time Magazine]