Infinite Summer

p. 389 "After the first photograph has been in a magazine, the famous men do not enjoy their photgraphs in magazines so much as they fear that their photographs will cease to appear in magazines."

One of the things I've read about Wallace is that he had a continuing fear that he would be unable to replicate his achievements to the point that it, at times, paralyzed his ability to write. Fortunately, that paralysis was temporary.... until the end of course.

"That no matter how smart you thought you were, you are actually way less smart than that."

pg 204.

... seems to apply to the AA program, and, uh, to reading IJ.

So, so many favorites. I try to post one a day on my blog, but the irresistible include:
Any mention of the "howling fantods" which I find the best wording ever for the heebiejeebies.
The monologue exchange via Pat M's log between the forker and forkee (176-8).
For poignant and terrifying: Poor Tony's seizure episode.
And Hal's breakdown about Himself's self-immolation. "That golly something smelled delicious!" 256.
And the description of Orin "punter extraordinaire, dodger of flung acid extraordinaire" (223) juxtaposed with Joelle plotting to eliminate her own map for good.

I love when Pemulis takes the contraband out of his hat like an old person arraying his valuables in a quiet moment!

Here's just the beginning of why Don Gately is my favorite character:

".. for an instant the Provident cafeteria seems pin-drop silent, and his own heart grips him like an infant rattling the bars of its playpen, and he feels a greasy wave of an old and almost unfamiliar panic, and for a second it seems inevitable that at some point in his life he's going to get high again and be back in the cage all over again, because for a second the blank white veil levelled at him seems a screen on which might well be projected a casual and impressive black and yellow smily-face, grinning, and the moment hangs there, distended..." (367)

"He says but when he tries to go beyond the very basic rote automatic get-me-through-this-day-please stuff, when he kneels at other times and prays or meditates or tries to achieve a Big-Picture spiritual understanding of a God as he can understand Him, he feels Nothing - not nothing, but Nothing, an edgeless blankness that somehow feels worse than the sort of unconsidered atheism he Came In with." (443)

My personal favorite passages thus far (in order of appearance as best I can reconstruct off the top of my head (especially mindblowing material underlined)):

1. Hal's interview w/ AZ college faculty and resultant disaster, including flashback to 'I ate this'.

2. Erdedy waits for marijuana delivery and watches a bug.

3. Clenette's description of Wardine's predicament.

4. yrstruly (Emil Minty ?) scores and narrowly avoids dying from it.

5. The endnote on the futurist's description of DMZ time-flanging.

6. J. Inc Sr.'s drunken monologue to J. Inc Jr. in the garage.

7. Poor Tony's public transportation DT disaster.

8. The latter part of the Eschaton game, in which it disintegrates.

9. J v.D.'s OD.

10. The Raquel Welch and stillborn denial segments of the lengthy AA section.

11. J. Inc. Sr.'s drunken bed-maintenance disaster leading to J. Inc. Jr.'s annulation insight.