Infinite Jesters

Join Infinite Jesters this New Year's, 2013, as a handful of diehards begin their latest read of the seriously fun and -- seriously -- not-that-difficult of a read. Not that difficult no matter the myriad mythologies that critics have sometimes contrived from this hopscotch of a novel. Not that it's easy, like Dean Koontz is easy (a routine go-to guy for the down-to-Earth author of Infinite Jest (IJ)), but it's not as frustratingly hard as its been made out to be. Just like Julio Cortazar's famous novel¹ isn't hard, no matter how one reads it. It's just wildly different. Frontier fiction. A bit more convoluted and geometrically conceived than more typically structured reads.

"Alas, poor Yorick!²--I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy..." ~ from Hamlet

Almost seventeen, IJ has arrived near its adolescent peak. Is it worthy of claiming its place in the, admittedly, arguably overrated pantheon of hallowed forebears like Ulysses, The Apes of God³, Under the Volcano⁴, The Recognitions⁵, Pale Fire, Gravity's Rainbow, Women and Men⁶ (not to mention a relatively unknown recursive-looped rarity like the heavily footnoted, The Dissertation⁷, by R.M. Koster, for instance, and too many more obscure gems to mention by name)? Read IJ and maybe find out.

IJs Gargantua-and-Pantagruelian girth (nearly 1100 leaves of small print on oversized pages) is its greatest challenge. Not its much maligned "Subsidized Time" or acronyms. Not its fascinating, Melvillean footnotes⁸, whose footnotes' footnotes sometimes have their own footnotes -- common first-timer's complaints. Consider that vast backcountry of footnotes like panoramic rest stops along the way.

Hamlet opens: "Who's there?"
Infinite Jest opens: "I am...."
Coincidence?

Join our collective read of IJ, launching 01.01.2013, and soon you might know. Reading IJ won't be a bust. Trust that two bookmarks are musts. RSVP here⁹, or just show up.

*****

All things (everything and more!) IJ-related¹⁰: no notes and errata regarding David Foster Wallace's (DFWs)¹¹ tome of tomes will be deemed too arcane or lame for digressive threads.

All information DFW-relevant -- his other novels, story and essay collections, undergraduate philosophy treatise, or lengthy exposé on the Annual Adult Video News Awards¹², even, or the howling fantods¹³, whatever -- are welcome ad nauseam (or is it ad nauseated? ad nauseous?) as well.

[click on footnotes for IJ scene-by-scene guide¹⁴ ... or ... IJ index¹⁵ and other stuff above]

Total members: 136 members

Recent members: yrcorresps, graybeard61, kbondelli, amroach, syncytium, zamurai, civitas, featherblende, Mich_Smith, ALWINN, deereads, Emrayfo, citygirl, MaskedMumbler, TadAD, gravitysbook, sacpop, grabloid, h2oetry, mariamariekke, Heather_BTC, RJFergs, Koffeecat, AndrewDunedin, kjellika, labirinto, semckibbin, CharlemangeOKeeffe, libraryhermit, Porius

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Topics		messages	Last message
Infinite Jest: meaning of subsidized time products?		15	anna_in_pdx, May 1
I Think, Therefore I Jest: EFs recursive IJ reading thread		40	Jesse_wiedinmyer, May 1
Tad's Reading		57	Jesse_wiedinmyer, May 1
Hideously Long (but not forgotten) Interviews with David Foster Wallace		4	Jesse_wiedinmyer, May 1
Miscellany		58	Jesse_wiedinmyer, April 30
dchaikin looking towards IJ		51	dchaikin, April 23
Invitation to online reading group of Infinite Jest		1	punkzip, March 10
DFWs Essays that are available online		17	detailmuse, February 26
Footnotes and Fractals: RidgewayGirl takes a long look at IJ		15	Mich_Smith, February 24
Robert Durick: Okay, I've read it. So what?		18	EnriqueFreeque, February 23
nymith's blind walk with Infinite Jest		12	EnriqueFreeque, February 2
Water		7	slickdpdx, January 29
Into the heart of America, zenomax's IJ thread.		7	zenomax, January 23
RSVP Thread for Infinite Jest, Opening the First Page on 01.01.2013		99	featherblende, January 21
Justicemoney's First-time IJ Read		10	justicemoney, January 17
anna reads IJ		12	anna_in_pdx, January 15
Why you shouldn't read Infinite Jest; or, A Thread for Haters		35	EnriqueFreeque, January 6
INFINITE JEST & HAMLET: Similarities		3	EnriqueFreeque, January 6
Self-reflexive metathread: Description of Footnotes to Infinite Jester's group description page		1	EnriqueFreeque, January 5
Trandism's Roadmap to IJ		8	trandism, January 5
Elegant Complexity and Other Infinite Jest Reading Aids		6	Sandydog1, January 4
Bas-in-jest		4	EnriqueFreeque, January 4
Why have you avoided DFW or Infinite Jest? Scared? Afraid its weight will crush you? Or wh		54	Sandydog1, January 3
IJ Resources and References		2	Sandydog1, January 3
So how are we going to proceed w/Infinite Jest exactly, come New Year's?		7	Sandydog1, January 3
semckibbin's Infinite Jest reader's diary and personal odyssey (because it's all about me)		3	trandism, January 2
Year of Beelzebubba singing unforgettable Ethel Merman covers and reading Infinite Jest for the seco		6	tomcatMurr, December 2012
Tatts		9	MeditationesMartini, December 2012
How did you first "meet" Mr. Wallace?		22	EnriqueFreeque, December 2012
James O. Incandenza: A Filmographyª		8	EnriqueFreeque, December 2012
DFW biography		18	EnriqueFreeque, December 2012
When Art and Infinite Jest Collide		3	slickdpdx, December 2012
Out-of-the-Blue Question Thread: In which Infinite Jest's Themes are mined obliquely		3	EnriqueFreeque, December 2012
Stuff for DFW Dorks, Completists, Collectors (or all of the above)		5	EnriqueFreeque, November 2012
INFINITE JEST: Its Structure		8	EnriqueFreeque, November 2012
Infinite Jest: James Incandenza's Death?		22	beelzebubba, November 2012
Open invite to read Infinite Jest 2012 in good company!		112	anna_in_pdx, October 2012
INFINITE JEST: The Canadian Conspiracy & Other small detail-oriented observations (spoilers)		16	narpe, October 2012
A new Infinite Jest blog		1	TimFootman, September 2012
Maps		1	dchaikin, September 2012
Broom of the System		7	EnriqueFreeque, September 2012
Gately's former navy M.P.		2	beelzebubba, July 2012
A Look at Wallace		1	barney67, June 2012
The Rise and Fall in Infinite Jest's Popularity		3	EnriqueFreeque, March 2012
The Pale King		26	tomcatMurr, May 2011
Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with DFW		3	tomcatMurr, April 2011
New Yorker Short Story...		2	krolik, April 2011
Infinite Jest: Jests and Jokes		8	EnriqueFreeque, April 2011
Infinite Jest: The Ghost of Eric Clipperton		6	glowing-fish, March 2011
Infinite Jest/Harry Potter		3	glowing-fish, March 2011
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men		2	Sutpen, March 2011
Infinite Jest: The politics of David Foster Wallace		35	MeditationesMartini, March 2011
INFINITE JEST: Quotes, themes, observations...		11	MeditationesMartini, March 2011
Infinite Jest: Revenge as Theme		2	MeditationesMartini, March 2011
DFWs non-Infinite Jest books		10	Sutpen, March 2011
DFWs Syllabus at Pomona College		2	krolik, February 2011
DFW: Miscellania		37	tomcatMurr, December 2010
Spreading Infinite Jest		1	cfn, November 2010
A forum for Infinite Jest (a work in progress, please be kind)		6	EnriqueFreeque, November 2010
Why won't DFW become a member of this group?		12	EnriqueFreeque, October 2010
INFINITE JEST: the end (with spoilers)		26	Sutpen, September 2010
Now what?		8	tomcatMurr, August 2010
INFINITE JEST: influences		4	slickdpdx, August 2010
Halation		9	pyrocow, July 2010
The Entertainment		5	pyrocow, July 2010
IJ sections		3	MeditationesMartini, June 2010
Previous topics		15	EnriqueFreeque, June 2010
Avril is Luria?		8	dchaikin, June 2010
Why this group?		24	A_musing, June 2010
INFINITE JEST: Questions		7	pyrocow, June 2010
INFINITE JEST: Early pages		1	pyrocow, June 2010
INFINITE JEST: Tennis & communication		1	pyrocow, June 2010
INFINITE JEST: Common enemies, common suffering		1	pyrocow, June 2010
INFINITE JEST: Interesting techniques		1	pyrocow, June 2010
INFINITE JEST: Allusions & Food for Thought		1	pyrocow, June 2010
Preparing for Infinite Jest (no spoilers)		1	pyrocow, June 2010
"p-terminals"		4	pyrocow, May 2010
I have a question.		30	LizzieD, May 2010