[...] Wallace's vision of postmodernity in "Westward" exhibits the same qualities that Jameson attributes to this cultural phenomenon: ahistorical, flat, directionless, and representing the end-point of a linear historical progression. Wallace also seems to agree with Jameson that this place/state-of-mind has its origin, or at least has been fuelled by, the overwhelming materialism fostered by late-stage capitalism.

[...] he birthing of postmodernity in late capitalism, the central argument of Jameson's theory, is clearly suggested here. He argues that postmodern suspicion of all cultural truth as mere elaborations of ideology makes it a perfect partner for capitalism (Postmodernism xxi), and in making Collision the birthplace for McDonald's, long the icon of multinational capitalism, Wallace evidently agrees with this position.