Infinite Summer

Jordan.
Iowa.
Student.

I'm reading Infinite Jest for the first time. I came across the book in a winter Issue of the New Yorker.

Hi, my name is Aaron.
I read The Broom of the System at the age of 22 while participating in an eight-day pharmaceutical study. They injected into my right buttock something meant to treat elderly people with either heart or stomach troubles and the injection site had to be monitored hourly, along with my blood and urine. I brought three other books: a Bukowski biography; a collection of stories by Voltaire; and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami. Multiple drug studies took place in the same building, a kind of clinical dorm room, and each group had its own color T-shirt. The red shirted Xanax people were the coolest and the easiest to beat at video games. Also, some people had to poop into buckets inexplicably labeled "Harvest."
What a perfect place to read Infinite Jest. But I had no idea what postmodern literature was about, or how narrative structure and a reader's expectation of tone were being manipulated, because I had no sense of narrative structure or tone. You can tell by my reading list I was diving into literature ass first. So I read both Wallace and Murakami as slightly kooky whodunits with poorly chosen character names and random plot points. I guess I took it in stride, like a really long Simpsons episode, but I know I missed a lot of what the author was going for.
Anyway, I'm 28 now and much better prepared to tackle this thing. I bought a copy of Hamlet and I'm gonna try to read them concurrently, all while balancing a healthy relationship and job status. I'm a hotel bartender and aging hipster with one fleur de lis tattoo and an adorable fiancee. One of our cats is named Flannery O'Kitten and the other is named Biscuits. We didn't pick the dog's name. I'm excited and fully prepared to geek out with all of you over the next two months, although I've never really participated in an online forum before, so I'm not sure how to begin or end a post. So, uh, ok. Bye.

Phil, 24, near Boston. I'm a graduate student (biochemistry, more or less), and this is my first time reading any David Foster Wallace. I'd been wanting to read him for a while, though, and hearing about Infinite Summer was pretty much impetus enough to do so... It's been good so far. So... hi!

Jack Waters, 26, student/journalist

I am attending Utah Valley University, which is 5 minutes away from BYU... Studying Journalism.

I live in Orem, Utah, 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City. Anyone else from Utah?

I've attempted to read Infinite Jest in its entirety, but have never been able to. This is a good opportunity to finally do it. I love DFW. Consider the Lobster is one of my favorites.

I'm Cody. 27 years old, bricklayer, Ogden, UT.

IJ was my first DFW experience. As soon as I finished it I went to Amazon and ordered more. I have A Supposedly Fun Thing and Conversations. I haven't gotten to them yet though. I finished IJ for the first time on the 9th of this month. I had to get in a little light reading before IS started, so his other stuff is kind of on the back burner until I finish IJ another time or two... I have read a few of the shorter pieces available online though. IJ is hands-down my favorite book, so I'm pretty stoked to read his other stuff.

DSR / 30 / Graphic Designer / Austin, Texas, U.S.A. ~ First heard about DFW through one of his articles, maybe it was Consider the Lobster or Federer As a Religious Experience. Blown away by the immensely descriptive writing style and biting humor. Not since the first reading of Kurt Vonnegut Jr's Slaughterhouse Five almost 10 years ago had a writer's work meant something. Never had the audacity to open Infinite Jest until just yesterday when I stumbled upon this site and its mission and resorted to picking up a copy at the nearest library. Thank you DFW for showing us a glimpse of what the human mind is capable of creating. Shine on you crazy diamond.

I'm Kari, 37, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Reading IJ for the first time. I'm a married mother of two little girls, and an information architect for IBM.

Hi! I'm Amanda, 29, from Brooklyn. This is my second go-round with IJ - the first was last winter, so it's still relatively fresh for me. I wasn't really planning to reread it so soon, but an internet-wide group read paired with the summer off from grad school (policy analysis) was just too tempting to turn down. I'm also in the middle of Oblivion, so it looks like my summer is going to be devoted to DFW.

Andy, 32, IT consultant in UK. I've had this book from when it was released in paperback and have been meaning to read it ever since. I've tried on several ocassions but always put it down after a lactlustre effort. The size of the thing daunts me, but I am determined to read the damn thing as I believe the story is rewarding.

I've been reading a lot this year as I bought a Sony Reader. My plan was to read a book a month, but this IS project looks to upset that as it's going to be 1 book over several months. I can't say I will understand IJ to the depths that some of you will but I am hoping that this site will help with that.

Mark, 33. I live in Pasadena, California and am in the process of transitioning to a new career. Which means I'm unemployed and have lots of free time to devote to an over 1,000 page novel.

This is my first DFW reading experience, beyond a few essays here and there. I read "This Is Water" while standing in the aisle of the bookstore.

I'm a pretty avid reader. I usually read just whatever happens to catch my interest, everything from sci-fi and horror to sociology and physics. I also read the occasional comic book now and then.

So far, I'm caught up with this weeks IJ page assignment and plan on keeping to the 75 pages a week pace. That seems like it's going to be the way to get the most out of the discussions. Since I do read so much, that means that I have to have a book read when I'm not reading IJ. Right now, my fall back book is "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku.

Looks like this is going to be a fun way to read an incredible book!

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