The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 1088 pages and is available in paperback format. Essays on richard powers dalkey archive press, 2008. A few weeks ago, i wrote the foreword for infinite summer, a summerlong collective read of infinite jest, david foster wallaces bigass novel and one of my favorite books. And here, really, is the enigma of david foster wallaces work generally and infinite jest specifically. The length of infinite jest should not be an obstacle to finding pleasure in it. Infinite jest ebook written by david foster wallace.
A novel by david foster wallace and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness. David foster wallace s humor is my taste of comedy, but his story about addiction and depression is profound. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are a total of 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own. Here, as quoted in the christian science monitor, we have the infinite jest author and widely recognized if reluctant highbrow literary figures top ten list. Its not a stretch or very original to call infinite jest the defining work of the 1990s. David foster wallace is the author of infinite jest, the broom of the system, and girl with curious hair. David foster wallace book, reading, thinking it took years after id graduated from amherst to realize that people were actually far more complicated and interesting than books, that almost everyone else suffered the same secret fears and inadequacies as i, and that feeling alone and inferior was actually the great valent bond between us all. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Get a copy of greg carlisles elegant complexity, the reference book for infinite jest. The following conversation is drawn from an interview i did with david foster wallace in september 2006 as part of a series of articles and radio pieces about important foreign writers, artists, and movie directors who were not well known in russia at the time. David foster wallaces infinite jest, is, without question, the best book ive ever read. It has been categorized as an encyclopedic novel and made time magazines. T he first of february saw the 20th anniversary of a work considered by many to have changed the rules of fiction.
David foster wallace february 21, 1962 september 12, 2008 was an american writer and university professor in the disciplines of english and creative writing. He received a masters of fine arts from university of arizona in 1987 and. Respond to doctors request for details about book with generic facts about david foster wallaces. This event took place six years after foster wallace took his own life and eighteen years following the first printing of infinite jest. The writer david foster wallace committed suicide on september 12th of last year. Infinite jest by david foster wallace booksamillion.
Feb 15, 2016 t he first of february saw the 20th anniversary of a work considered by many to have changed the rules of fiction. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read infinite jest. He is author of david foster wallace s infinite jest continuum 2003 and coeditor of intersections. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by david foster wallace. Steven asin infinite jest is the perfect book for the kindle paperwhite. The novel touches on the topics of tennis, substance addiction and recovery programs, depression, child abuse, family relationships, advertising and popular entertainment, film theory, and quebec separatism. David foster wallace interview on infinite jest on wpr. Mar 12, 2020 david foster wallace is the author of infinite jest, the broom of the system, and girl with curious hair. The official david foster wallace website featuring a listing of his books along audio clips and information about his newest title, the pale king. David foster wallace was born in ithaca, new york, in 1962 and raised in illinois, where he was a regionally ranked junior tennis player. Out of mountains of books, this is possibly the worst writing ive ever read. Infinite jest by david foster wallace the 329th greatest. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own. I received 500,000 discrete bits of information today, he once said, of which maybe 25 are important.
He eventually became a lawyer and coauthored one of wallaces early. Infinite jest 1996, by david foster wallace alltime. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by american writer david foster wallace. Steve lisstime life picturesgetty images 1 infinite jest is set in a near future in which the gregorian calendar has been supplanted by.
A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a. Infinite jest, in other words, can be exceedingly frustrating. Infinite jest by david foster wallace, 9780349121086, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Wallace clearly was operating under the old pynchonhouse rules.
A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a north american dystopia, centering on a. Infinite jest by david foster wallace the lengthy and complex work takes place in a semiparodic future version of north america. Pdf infinite jest book by david foster wallace free. Wallace had a a rather morbid sense of humor and is. Steve lisstime life picturesgetty images 1 infinite jest is set in a near future in which the gregorian calendar has been supplanted by a sponsorship arrangement. The length may be offputting but i am looking forward to settling down for a few weeks to read it. Max revisits david foster wallaces infinite jest twenty years after its. Infinite jest by david foster wallace, first edition. Best known as the author of the audacious, shelfbending postmodern masterpiece infinite jest, novelist, essayist, and short story writer david foster wallace 19622008 was one of the most influential writers of the late 20th century.
By 2016, worldwide sales of dfws book just exceeded one million copies. The prodigious fiction of richard powers, william t. Beyond the ease with which one can lookup footnotes, consider the following. I made it through gravitys rainbow and hope this is as good. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. Ive read many books on addictions and how they overcame their problem by taking the steps, and even though the story of infinite jest is fictional, the characters seems to be more realistic with their addictions and depressions.
It is an exuberant, uniquely american exploration of the passions that make us human and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do. Hes damn good nicholas lezard, guardian one of the best books about addiction and recovery to appear in recent memory sunday times somewhere in the notsodistant future the residents of ennet house, a boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the nearby enfield tennis academy. As a college english major, ive read my fair share of great literature, and very few authors even approach wallace s ability to entertain, enlighten, mystify or infuriate. In a sprawling, wild, superhyped magnum opus, david foster wallace fulfills the promise of his precocious novel the broom of the system. As a college english major, ive read my fair share of great literature, and very few authors even approach wallaces ability to entertain, enlighten, mystify or infuriate. David foster wallace was born in 1962 and lived for 46 years. He is author of david foster wallaces infinite jest continuum 2003 and coeditor of intersections. David foster wallaces second novel is s et in an absurd but agonizingly believable nearfuture, and. This book is wandering, selfindulgent, overwritten, and gives ample evidence that the academics and literati are captivated by the deranged workings of a damaged mind wallace struggled with addictions and mental illness and killed himself a couple years after infinite jest was published.
Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel infinite jest, which time magazine cited as one of the 100 best englishlanguage novels from 1923 to 2005. Like most of those david foster wallace fans, i felt more than a little surprised when i turned to his page and found out which ten books hed chosen. Infinite jest by david foster wallace year of glad year. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semiparodic future version of north america, and touches on substance addiction recovery programs, depression, child abuse, family relationships, advertising, popular entertainment, film theory, quebec separatism, and tennis, among other topics. The beloved 1,100page novel is david foster wallace s magnum opus and one of the most influential books of its time, but did you know he based its structure on a mathematical object called a. Free download or read online infinite jest pdf epub book. He thought he could pull out all the stops and write a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. The two groups rarely interact, and the sections of the book. Infinite jest was a megahit in 1996, but whatever popularity it enjoyed among magazine writers, it still occupied a niche.
Infinite jest by david foster wallace and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and. Infinite jest 1996, by david foster wallace alltime 100. His life was an information hunt, collecting hows and whys. To fully understand what wallace was up to, the book bears being read, and reread. If you get stuck, keep a dictionary handy or consult one of the following online collections. Infinite jest by david foster wallace, first edition abebooks. His novel infinite jest 1996 was listed by time magazine as one of the 100 best englishlanguage novels published between 1923 and 2005. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction, features a huge cast and multilevel narrative, and questions essential elements of american culture our entertainments, our addictions, our relationships, our. These are the endnotes to david foster wallaces infinite jest, a gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america.
Buy infinite jest 01 by foster wallace, david isbn. David foster wallace s infinite jest, is, without question, the best book ive ever read. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has. He received bachelor of arts degrees in philosophy and english from amherst college and wrote what would become his first novel, the broom of the system, as his senior english thesis. Buy infinite jest by david foster wallace from waterstones today. David foster wallace giving a reading at all saints church, san francisco, 2006. David foster wallace books list of books by author david.
David foster wallace february 21, 1962 september 12, 2008 was an american author of novels, essays and shortstories, and a professor at pomona college in claremont, california. His second novel, infinite jest, was published in 1996. While everyone else was downscaling, he was working on infinite jest. Infinite jest kindle edition by wallace, david foster. The main characters of this fiction, classics story are hal incadenza, joelle van dyne. Wallace had a a rather morbid sense of humor and is often extremely funny in a dark sort of here here. The book was edited by publisher little, brown and companys michael pietsch, who has recalled cutting about 250 manuscript pages. Burn is associate professor at northern michigan university, usa.
David foster wallace worked surprising turns on nearly everything. The author is highly imitative of pynchons gravitiys rainbow without demonstrating any of the structured discipline that went into grs creation the internal references to hamlet are more or less ad. Infinite jest by david foster wallace conceptual fiction. Jun 29, 2018 infinite jest was a megahit in 1996, but whatever popularity it enjoyed among magazine writers, it still occupied a niche. Feb 07, 2016 and here, really, is the enigma of david foster wallaces work generally and infinite jest specifically. David foster wallace broke my heart christianity today.
The length of infinite jest should not be an obstacle to. My first attempt was a list of advice on reading the novelthe submission of which prompted infsums dungeon master, matthew baldwin, to write back with a frowny face and a. Feb 01, 1996 goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. David foster wallaces struggle to surpass infinite jest. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value.
Oct 16, 2005 the plot of infinite jest which revolves around, among other things, a lost, unwatchably beautiful art film and a conspiracy among wheelchairbound quebecois secessionistsis decidedly secondary to the painfully funny dialogue and wallaces endlessly rich ruminations and speculations on addiction, entertainment, art, life and, of course. May 30, 2018 infinite jest by david foster wallace, 9780349121086, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The beloved 1100page novel is david foster wallaces magnum opus and one of the most influential books of its time, but did you know he. Set in an addicts halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwedup family to come along in recent fiction, infinite jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives. David foster wallace february 21, 1962 september 12, 2008 was an american author of novels, short stories and essays, as well as a university professor of english and creative writing. The first edition of the novel was published in february 1st 1996, and was written by david foster wallace. Wallace taught creative writing at emerson college, illinois state university, and pomona college, and published the story collections girl. Digital rights management drm the publisher has supplied this book in encrypted form, which means that you need to install free software in order to unlock and read it. The plot of infinite jest which revolves around, among other things, a lost, unwatchably beautiful art film and a conspiracy among wheelchairbound quebecois secessionistsis decidedly secondary to the painfully funny dialogue and wallaces endlessly rich ruminations and speculations on addiction, entertainment, art, life and, of course.
Not even malcolm lowrys under the volcano succeeds in conveying the utter desperation and helplessness of the chronic alcoholic to such a degree as david foster wallace does in infinite jest. Buy infinite jest by david foster wallace online at alibris. David foster wallaces surprising list of his 10 favorite. In may, 2014 the first annual david foster wallace conference was hosted by the illinois state university department of english.