Various Pornstars and Pornography Execs
Wallace mentions these people to draw attention to their slimy behavior and socially corrupt personalities of the porn industry, but not without reminding the audience of how ubiquitous pornography usage is and how much money the industry generates.
Tracy Austin
The child prodigy and world champ tennis player, Tracy Austin, appears in the essay bearing her name for Wallace to criticize her terrible autobiography.
John McCain
In "Up, Simba," Wallace documents McCain's push for the presidency in 1999, drawing attention to the social contortion that politicians accomplish to be successful in politics.
John Updike
The modernist writer John Updike is critiqued in the essay "Certainly the End of Something or Other, One Would Sort of Have to Think" in which Wallace responds to Updike's then-latest novel, The End of Time.
Franz Kafka
Kafka is mentioned in the essay bearing his name for Wallace to offer a short account of how difficult it is to teach Kafka to students who understand Kafka's irony, but don't find his sense of humor to be funny.
