If you've ever seen the movie Stranger Than Fiction, which is cutesy but good graded on the curve for cutesy movies, that's the narrative mood DFW seems to be going for: the detached narrator who is not in fact entirely detached. The third person perspective is often meant to be partially ironic, as is (when he uses it) the first person.

You should read this:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12746364

I'd already replied to it. :)

(I'm kind of speaking in general about DFW's writing, not about this particular piece, which I am not a fan of.)

Ha, fair point.

In this case, the viewpoint is an interesting omniscient third person where you kind of feel like you're in the head of the character, but not quite exactly. Are we reading a third-person narrative that is maintaining ironic distance from the character, or a first-person narrative where the character is referring to herself in the third person?

On a couple occasions I've tried narrating vignettes from my own life in a detached omniscient candid way, which a) makes me feel ridiculous, like I'm making fun of myself, but b) is sort of therapeutic, like I'm forgiving myself for my head being full of stupid vanities which look very small from a little distance.

So maybe that's the angle?