Infinite Summer

Author: admin

  • The Book Before

    If Twitter is to be believed (and when has it ever done us wrong?), many of you have already begun reading your copy of Infinite Jest. And that’s okay. As we’ve said in the past, doing so is perfectly permissible under the rules. Ya big cheaters.

    The rest of us, meanwhile, are frantically trying to finish whatever currently sits on our nightstand, in anticipation of the big event.

    We asked The Guides what they are reading, and if they would recommend it to an Infinite Summer participant who was looking to pick up something on, say, September 23rd. Here are their replies.

    Kevin Guilfoile: The book I’m finishing (with Infinite Jest on deck) is The Great Perhaps by one of my favorite Chicago writers Joe Meno. It’s probably Meno’s most ambitious book to date, a chronicle of a barely functioning family of Chicago liberals around the time of the 2004 election with generational flashbacks going back more than a hundred years. A terrific book to wind down with in September.

    Eden M. Kennedy: I am currently finishing up More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman. I would heartily recommend it to people who like funny books full of made-up facts (“lies” in other words).

    Matthew Baldwin: I just completed the 2004 novel Body of Lies by David Ignatius, about a US spy stationed in Jordan who cooks up an elaborate Trojan Horse-style scheme to take down an al-Qaeda faction from the inside. The plot is by-the-numbers espionage stuff honestly, but Ignatius (a mild mannered Washington Post columnist by day) clearly knows a metric ton about the subject matter, and his portrayal of post-9/11 CIA agents railing against the bureaucracy that they perceive as soft and restrictive is fascinating in juxtaposition with the conversation we are currently having in this country regarding the use of “enhanced interrogation.”

    Avery Edison: I must ashamedly confess that I’m not actually reading anything in the run-up — and haven’t for a while. Reading the Internet has kind of replaced regular old book reading for me, and that’s something I’m hoping to address with this project. It’s sad that I’ve gotten to the stage where I need a weekly writing commitment to force me to read, but I guess we’ll just chalk me up as one of those “Facebook generation” people who knows how to hack into the Pentagon, War Games-style, but can’t make a slice of toast.

    Seriously, I miss toast. I have a P.O. Box address if someone would like to mail me a slice. Buttered, please.

    The comments are open. Let us know what you are wrapping up, and if it’s worthy of a recommendation. And you may want to bookmark this thread as well, to revisit in a month or three.

  • Warming Up

    You wouldn’t run a marathon without stretching beforehand. And perhaps the mammoth tome that is Infinite Jest ought not be your first exposure to David Foster Wallace.

    DFW’s shorter works are collected into a number of bound volumes:

    Non-Fiction Collections

    Single (albeit lengthy) essays

    Short Stories

    Much of his writing is also freely available on the web. Here is a smattering:

    • It’s hard to know what Gourmet Magazine had in mind when they dispatched Wallace to the Maine Lobster Festival, but Consider the Lobster–an 8,000 words treatise (complete with footnotes) that grapples with the ethical quandary of boiling sentient creatures alive for the sake of culinary enjoyment–was probably not it.

    • Also found in the Consider the Lobster anthology, Host is Wallace’s examination of talk radio and one of its most prominent practitioners.

    • After his untimely death, Harpers Magazine made several (all?) of the David Foster Wallace pieces that had previous appeared in their pages available as PDFs. Of particular note are Shipping Out (rechristened “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again” when published in book form), in which Wallace chronicles the week he spent on a luxury Caribbean Cruise, and Interviews with Hideous Men, which served as the foundation for his subsequent collection of the same name.

    • In The View from Mrs. Thompson’s, Wallace recounts his experiences on September 11, 2001.

    • Wallace gave the Commencement Address at Kenyon College’s 2005 graduation ceremony. A transcription of the speech is currently available here.

    • The story Incarnations of Burned Children is brief, and mercifully so. While wonderfully written, I do not recommend reading it if you have, have been, or have ever known a child.

    For a breathtakingly exhaustive rundown of David Foster Wallace’s collected and uncollecting writing, please see this page at the The Howling Fantods (a site of which we will speak again, and often).

  • Mimi Smartypants: Why Read Infinite Jest?

    Mimi Smartypants is a Chicago writer and editor, as well as the eponymous author of a long-running weblog.  A portion of her early online writing is collected in The World According to Mimi Smartypants.  She has read Infinite Jest thrice.

    Yeah, it’s big.

    No reviewer, blogger, or bookstore chitchatter can resist remarking on Infinite Jest’s size, so let’s just get that out of the way first. It’s also in the top ten of the best books I have ever read in my life. It would be my desert island book and the book I would take to prison with me. (For some reason I like to imagine scenarios in which I am mistakenly sent to prison.) In 1996, despite being chronically short of funds and living in a graduate student hovel with my graduate student husband, I splurged on a hardcover copy and a few weeks later accidentally left it on a bus. And I went out later that day and bought ANOTHER hardcover copy with that month’s beer money.

    My extreme love for this novel, the way that I tend to corner people who mention it and exclaim about its wonderfulness with a Russian-mystic gleam in my eye, might sound a little fetishistic and alarming, and in fact might be a deterrent rather than an endorsement. Let me try another approach.

    I have always been something of a literary wanker, interested in metafiction and fancy ways of writing and reading. I was a Vonnegut and Pynchon dork in high school, spent time in college inhaling marijuana smoke and Nabokov simultaneously (quite an effective “alternative reading strategy,” actually), and still dip into Finnegan’s Wake every time I need a respite from narrative. So when IJ hype began appearing in various book-review rags I was naturally all over it. A giant thousand-page novel set in the vague near-future? With frequent text-disruptions in the form of endnotes and digressions? Yes! Hand it over!

    Of course, by this point I know what to expect of my postmodern fiction, right? Lots of little literary in-jokes and poking playful fun at the search for meaning, a big textual circle jerk that allows me to admire the author’s chops while also smirking proudly about how smart I am for getting it.

    That’s not at all how reading Infinite Jest is. Not even close. The book is not one long “mess,” as New York Times book critic and my personal enemy Michiko Kakutani so wrongly put it, or an “excuse to show off.” I hope that at the end of the summer you will see how wrong that is. Infinite Jest feels very real, with the underlying premise that we MUST read, write, or talk ourselves out of the metafictional spiral; that it is actually urgent that we connect with the world, not hide from it with drink or drugs or television or literary skill; that paying attention to nothing but the movie inside one’s head will ultimately kill you.* A novel about the absolute necessity of conveying our subjective consciousness to each other, that in fact IS an attempt to convey subjective consciousness to you, the reader—this feels like such a relief after decades of novels that laughingly deny the possibility.

    *(It feels unseemly here, after the above, to insert a comment about the sad loss of DFW himself. I have been looking at the cursor-blink for ages but nothing is right. Consider this parenthetical my moment of silence, a fumbling acknowledgment of the Big Bad Thing that I hope will not totally inform the Infinite Summer project, which doesn’t deserve such emotional freight.)

    All in all, I find Infinite Jest enjoyable in a way that Barth and Pynchon are not. (Here come the Pynchon fans to kick my ass.) There’s so much fun and humanity in it. There are so many great overlapping stories, and so many laugh-out-loud moments. If characters like Hal and Gately and Joelle don’t stay with you long after the book is over I will eat my hat, and it is not a particularly tasty hat. Also, don’t be surprised if you read the last word and want to start over again at the beginning—that’s what I did, and that’s why I would want this book in prison, and weirdly now I am starting to fantasize (again) about going to prison just so I would have lots of uninterrupted time with Infinite Jest.

  • The Community

    We here at the I.S.anctuary are happy to serve as the Infinite Summer hub. But we also know that the most interesting and insightful analysis will come from Out There, as participants provide updates on their own sites. Thus, for the duration of the event, we’ll be cheerfully providing links to any commentary that comes to our attention.

    For now, here are some of the people and organizations who have publicly declared themselves “in”.

    Alison Flood of The Guardian’s “Book Blog” says that Infinite Jest “has been on my reading pile for ages … This is exactly the sort of prompt I need.”

    Sean of Discover Magazine’s “Cosmic Variance” blog wrote “I once read through Gravity’s Rainbow with a real-world reading group, and it added a lot to the experience … I’m going to give [Infinite Summer] a shot.”

    Ezra Klein, a blogger for The Washington Post (on economic and domestic policy, no less), titled his declaration of intent A Supposedly Fun Thing I Plan to Do This Summer. Margaret Lyons did likewise over at Entertainment Weekly in her post To “Infinite” … and beyond!. (We’re pleased as punch for the press, though mildly irked that we didn’t think of those titles first.)

    Two thousand people have joined the Facebook group. (Actually we’re three shy, at 1997 members. Don’t make us beg.) On Twitter, about a zillion tweets a day go by containing the hashtag #infsum.

    Lauren created a LiveJournal Community. Sarah created a Infinite Summer Shelfari group. Ellen created a page on goodreads.

    Deborah started a discussion on Ravelry, a website devoted to knit and crochet. “You have to be a member to participate,” she notes. “But we’d love to see you there!”

    Over in the Twin Cities, a local group that enjoys both reading lit and getting lit is joining the fun. See the discussion over at Books and Bars.

    And many of you are here today after Colin Meloy of The Decemberists publicized the event. “I’m going for it,” he wrote. “Who’s with me?”

    Here’s a random sampling of additional participants:

    If you intend to join in the festivities, feel free to mention your site in the comments.

  • The Guides

    So hey, what are you up to this summer?

    Oh yeah? Enjoying a novel? Well crazy coincidence: that’s our plan as well.

    Four writers who have never before read Infinite Jest will do so for the duration of Infinite Summer. And each will be posting here weekly, not only to report on their thoughts and progress, but also to promote and facilitate discussion.

    Here is our schedule, and an introduction to the Guides.

    Monday: Matthew Baldwin is the thinker-upper and editor of Infinite Summer. Between his gigs as a blogger at defective yeti and a contributing writer for The Morning News, he has bestowed upon the Internet such 20-minute sensations as The IKEA Walkthrough, The 30 Least Hot Follow-ups to the 30 Hottest Things You Can Say to a Naked Woman, and The Definitive Solution to the 12-13 Man Problem. In his spare time he writes about whatever damn-fool thing enters his head, including but not limited to board game reviews, parental advice, crime fiction, and screenplays for NBC’s “The Office”. He lives in Seattle with his wife, his son, and a handful of good-for-nothing cats.

    Tuesday: Eden M. Kennedy, like millions of other terrifyingly average children in the United States, learned to read when she was in the first grade. Growing up as she did in the Great Era of Burt Reynolds Movies, she hoped someday to become a long-haul truck driver. Now, as an adult, she enjoys short fuel-efficient drives to work and back while she listens to her phone, which is full of music. Eden is the proud author of the blogs yogabeans!, where her son’s action figures demonstrate the intricacies of ashtanga yoga, and Fussy, where she writes angry open letters to Justin Timberlake and chronicles her daily life. Her newest website Let’s Panic About Babies (co-authored with Alice Bradley) will be launching soon. She lives in Southern California.

    Wednesday: Kevin Guilfoile’s bestselling debut novel Cast of Shadows–called “gripping” by the New York Times and one of the Best Books of 2005 by the Chicago Tribune and Kansas City Star–has been translated into more than 15 languages. He was the co-author (with John Warner) and illustrator of the #1 bestseller My First Presidentiary: A Scrapbook by George W. Bush. Guilfoile is a co-founder and commissioner of The Morning News Tournament of Books, and his essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Salon, and McSweeney’s. His second novel, The Thousand, will be published next year by Alfred A. Knopf.

    Thursday: Avery Edison is a barely-twenty-something student of Comedy Writing at a university in England, which must be very hard because “university” sounds more intelligent than “college”. When not deeply engaged in her studies or the collection of gold coins in the dinosaur world, she writes a few web–comics and submits things to McSweeney’s. They get rejected. Avery feels very sad for the e-mail system at McSweeney’s HQ, which she assures herself is broken. Although ostensibly on board to provide a younger generation’s perspective on “Infinite Jest”, Avery is — in truth — only here to make sure the adults use appropriate slang, like “awesome”. Avery has been watching the MTV and thinks she’s supposed to be into the word “awesome”. Oh, and also some whiny vampires or something. Avery maintains a tumblog which features photoshopped pictures of the guy from “The Shawshank Redmption”, and thousand-word diatribes against Proprosition 8. When asked about this lack of focus, she simply mumbles “niche audience” and cries a single tear.

    Friday is our wildcard slot. We’ve got a few experts on Infinite Jest and David Foster Wallace lined up to provide background information and analysis, and we’ll feature some guest Guides as well. If you’re reading the novel for the first time and would like to become a commentator, be sure to drop us a line. (Well, drop us a line in a month or so–the first few Fridays are booked solid.)

    The Guides will be encouraging everyone to join in the conversation. But if an unmoderated free-for-all is more to your liking, the forums will be open for this very purpose. Like we said: however you want to spend your summer is A-OK by us.

  • The Rules

    And now, at long last, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. We’re pleased to unveil:

    The Official Rules
    For Infinite Summer
    MMIX

    • …

    Nah, we’re just yanking your chain. There ain’t no rules. Read Infinite Jest, start around June 21st (if you want), finish around September 22nd (if you want), gloat about having completed the novel afterward (required).

    Okay! Mailbag!

    From: Jesse
    To: info@infinitesummer.org
    Date: June 1, 2009

    Shoot ... I already started the book cuz I though this was gonna start TODAY, not in 20 days. I imagine I already broke the rules.

    No worries. Our original plan for June 21st–testing participants for the IJ antibodies, to ensure that no one had premature exposure to the novel–proved too expensive. So you’re totally in the clear.

    From: Phillip A.
    To: info@infinitesummer.org
    Date: June 2, 2009

    Do I need to just do 75 pages/week? I could probably read it faster...

    Go nuts, Mr. A. You can think of us as a pacecar: you can leave us in the dust, but it’s probably best not to fall behind.

    Indeed, some Infinite Jest veterans assure us that 75 pages a week is downright lackadaisical, and that the novel is so engrossing that you will blaze through it in record time. You’ll get no objection from us if you do. We here at I.S. Headquarters, however, will be sticking to our schedule, and moderating the discussion accordingly.

    That said, even if you are ahead of the pack you should feel free to join the conversation. All we ask is that you adhere to the Inficratic Oath: First, Reveal No Spoilers. So, apparently, there is at least one rule.

    From: Samantha
    To: info@infinitesummer.org
    Date: June 2, 2009

    I wanted to send a note to say that I think this project is AMAZING and am hoping to get a lot of my friends reading IJ along with you this summer.

    But against my better judgment I also wanted to say that, in the Infinite Summer sidebar, the footnote to footnote 1 should be marked as 'a' and not '2', in true David Wallace Foster style.

    Thanks, and fixed!

    That’s just one of many great suggestions we have already received. Here’s another: “Maybe you should have activated the forums before you announced them.” Yeah, well … you know. Hindsight, and so forth.

    If you’ve got comments or criticism or complaints, send them to info@infinitesummer.org, mention them in this thread, or propose them in the forums-that-we-totally-turned-on-this-time.

    June 2, 2009

  • The List

    You’ve been meaning to do it for over a decade. Now join endurance bibliophiles from around the web as we tackle and comment upon David Foster Wallace’s masterwork over the summer of 2009. The festivities begin on June 21st and run through September 22nd.

    Until then, attend to your to do list:

    • Buy or borrow the novel. To find or provide tips on copies in local bookstores, visit the forums.

    • Follow us on Twitter, and see what others are tweeting.

    • Join the Facebook group.

    • Check out Infinite Tumblr. (We may not do anything with that, but urging people to “check out” your newly created Tumblr is required by federal and municipal law.)

    • Bookmark this site, or subscribe to the XML feed.

    • Finish or abandon all books, hobbies, and/or relationships before June 21st.

    Tomorrow: The rules.