He gives a good picture of its fictional counterpart in infinite jest. Buy hardcover copy of infinite jest at brickandmortar bookstore. He had already experienced literary fame with his college novel, the broom of the. Each one has good material, but for an overall or first read of the book. Infinite jest by david foster wallace, paperback barnes. 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 come to so dominate our lives. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel by american writer david foster wallace. Steven asin infinite jest is the perfect book for the kindle paperwhite. Favorite sentences and paragraphs from infinite jest ben. In the book, infinite jest, by david foster wallace, a young tennis prodigy is learning how to transcend his limitations, develop his talent and manage his fear in this case talking about tennis and how to improve your game but at the same time talking about hope, fear, understanding, fathers and sons, parents, the long waking dream. Infinite jest is a 1996 novel written by david foster wallace.
No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Npr coverage of infinite jest by david foster wallace. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction without. The author is highly imitative of pynchons gravitiys rainbow without demonstrating any of the. It has been categorized as an encyclopedic novel and made time magazines list of the 100 best englishlanguage novels published between 1923 and 2005. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semiparodic future version of north america. Beyond the ease with which one can lookup footnotes, consider the following. 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. Girl with curious hair twentytwo hundred copies sold in hardcover. The book version of this chapter is much more detailed than the ms, which. Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
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. Copyright 1996 david foster wallace all right reserved. 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. I have three helpers to infinite jest, each purchased at different readings of the great novel. Auto suggestions are available once you type at least 3 letters. B wallace made numerous corrections for the paperback edition of 1997. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. A study of david foster wallaces infinite jest, and david foster wallaces infinite jest. First two sections infinite jest, followed by the name and address of. Infinite jest quotes the guardian on the front cover, and the guardian quotes infinite jest.
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