Staff Picks 1
Infinite Jest
Samson Felshman
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Arts & Culture
David Foster Wallace, known for being overly verbose and unabashedly honest in his writing, gained fame with the publication of his magnum opus Infinite Jest (IJ). At its core, IJ is a book about addiction - the title itself describes a movie that people see once and then cannot stop watching, refusing to eat or drink until they die. Some sort of crippling need mars every character in the book.
Unlike his contemporaries in post-modernist fiction, Wallace, not a dull writer, colors the book with dark humor that encourages one to persevere even when the book's relentless focus and scope gets wearying. Wallace's narration, omnipresent and calm, points out everything it deems necessary while guiding you through a near-future that's as funny as it is realistic and stiflingly sad, albeit sometimes absurdist - years are named for products, with the advertised item being displayed on the Statue of Liberty. Most of the book takes place in the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (Y.D.A.U.). Connect the dots.
The gift Wallace has with words must be experienced to be believed - his sentences combine offhand slang with complex prose, and leave the reader stunned. If Wallace shows one flaw, it is that he shoots for greatness too much. But even his failures seem infinitely entertaining.
Unlike his contemporaries in post-modernist fiction, Wallace, not a dull writer, colors the book with dark humor that encourages one to persevere even when the book's relentless focus and scope gets wearying. Wallace's narration, omnipresent and calm, points out everything it deems necessary while guiding you through a near-future that's as funny as it is realistic and stiflingly sad, albeit sometimes absurdist - years are named for products, with the advertised item being displayed on the Statue of Liberty. Most of the book takes place in the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (Y.D.A.U.). Connect the dots.
The gift Wallace has with words must be experienced to be believed - his sentences combine offhand slang with complex prose, and leave the reader stunned. If Wallace shows one flaw, it is that he shoots for greatness too much. But even his failures seem infinitely entertaining.
Be the first to comment on this story