Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
I think it is quite clear by now that Stephen King is a very popular author with this group. I'm a big fan of King and I hate it when some people **** all over his work as if he's just some pulp peddler.
He's a smart dude.
So what does he think about Infinite Jest?
To my mind, there have been two great American novels in the past 50 years. Catch-22 is one; this is the other. For pop culture vultures like me, the central plot is fascinating. The late James O. Incandenza has created an "entertainment" - Infinite Jest - that is so irresistible you can't stop watching it?
I think even King's harshest critics would agree that the one think King can do is plot a novel. So for those of you that have read King, but not yet read
Infinite Jest, maybe this will convince you.
So who is James O. Incandenza? He's the father of Hal Incandenza, who one might argue is the main character of the novel. James, or "Himself" or "the Mad stork" and sometimes "the Sad stork" as he's known by his children (their mother is referred to as "the Moms"; yes, there are issues here), started out as an optics expert helping to create annual fusion with resulted in the great concavity, an irradiated wasteland stretching from NY through NE that the U.S. "gave" to Canada. The Organization of North American Nations (or O.N.A.N.
) is comprised of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Later in life James got very into avante garde filmmaking, initially just leveraging his expertise in lenses but them becoming famous (at least in the very small world of experimental filmmaking). There's a comprehensive list describing all of his films in the endnotes. (
Oh yes, Infinite Jest has endnotes. Lots of them. The edition I have (10th anniversary paperback) has 96 pages of Notes and Errata, some of which have footnotes of their own.) His last film is the Entertainment,
Infinite Jest, which ends up incapacitating a whole host of people. The film is so compelling that its viewers lose all interest in anything other than repeatedly viewing it, and thus eventually die.
The U.S. Office of Unspecified Services is trying to obtain the master copy to prevent those within O.N.A.N. who want to destabilize the union (as you can imagine, Canada is none too happy about the giant fans blowing the airborne waste their way or the trebuchets launching solid waste into the land of the maple leaf). Meanwhile, Canadian separatists such as
Les Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents (i.e., 'The Wheelchair Assassins') would love to get it. They are a badass group. Fear the squeak.
But that's just a small part of the plot. I think King references 30 or so great characters. He's not wrong. His favorite is Joelle Van Dyne aka P.G.O.A.T. (prettiest girl of all time). I fluctuate between these two:
- Don Gately: a former thief and Demerol addict, and current counselor in residence at Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House. One of the novel's primary characters, Gately is physically enormous and a reluctant but dedicated Alcoholics Anonymous member.
- Mike Pemulis: a working-class teenager from an Allston, Massachusetts family, and Hal's best friend. A prankster and the school's resident drug dealer, Pemulis is also very proficient in mathematics. This, combined with his limited but ultraprecise lobbing, made him the school's first master of Eschaton, a computer-aided turn-based nuclear wargame that requires players to be adept at both game theory and lobbing tennis balls at targets.
FYI, I've deliberately not included a link to the descriptions I used above and I encourage you not to investigate further if you do want to read the book as the site is spoilerific.
But what about the pop culture impact?, I hear you ask. I'll give you two:
The Decemberists - Calamity Song The actual disastrous Eschaton game was played in winter, but they get most of it right, even down to Colin Meloy sporting the signature Pemulis yachting cap. You may also note the lyric "In the year of the Chewable Ambien tab." That's a reference to subsidized time. After formation of O.N.A.N. years are no longer numbers. The naming rights are sold (e.g., Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (Y.D.A.U.)).
The Parks and Recreation episode "Partridge" contains various references to the novel. For example, Ann and Chris take the "Incandenza-Pemulis Parenting Compatibility Quiz", and Ann's fertility counselor, Dr. Van Dyne (P.G.O.A.T.!), works at the C.T. Tavis (another character) Medical Center.
Much like
War and Peace,
Infinite Jest is considered a very difficult read. I disagree. I think it's very entertaining. Don't be put off by the length or the endnotes. It's got a lot to say about consumerism, drugs and drug addiction, competitive sports and the environment, and it does so in a very clever way.
I could say more (and probably will later; you've been warned), but I'll leave it at that for now.
).
I see this one and Confederacy of Dunces as two books often mentioned that this simple minded poster has yet to consume. Will work on that.
