TPK is the only novel not set in the future (instead, reconstructed historical past). the two broad arcs that DFW noted for TPK (in his notes) are:

1. Paying attention, boredom, ADD, Machines vs. people at performing mindless jobs.
2. Being individual vs. being part of larger things--paying taxes, being "lone gun" in IRS vs. team player (545).

on the 1981 Reagan tax cuts mentioned in the Author's Foreword, and how they inspired the (probably) fictional Spackman Initiative. goes into some of the political context (both recent and historical) around this stuff. about how TPK was intended to change the misleading way Americans (as a country) talk about taxes (i.e., focusing on the fiscal elements and not the civic duty aspect). the author is very forthcoming in his anti-Republican views lol I like it