Infinite Jest

Well, I’m done! Fin! Over.  I just finished the last RA Favorite Book.  The project has been going on for a long time, but it has been a blast. So what was the last book (well until the new RAs get hired!)?  It was a strange, long, and complicated read called Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, who died a few years ago when he took his own life.  Interesting to note, he was the roommate of a person I met through the Little League here in NYC.  He attended Amherst College and was a ranked tennis player during his adolescence, clearly an influence on this book.  Wallace suffered from depression but his brilliance in writing was not seemingly affected by this brilliant, yet hard to understand (for the lay reader) book.  I will warn you all this is not an easy story, which is placed in the future and focuses on high school tennis, Quebec (yes the city), and it’s separation from the homeland, an alcohol and drug recovery program, relationships amongst one of the lead character's bizarre family, the film ("Infinite Jest"), and  abuse.  While the story stumbles across these issues/story lines there are a ton of endnotes, 96 pages in my edition! The Incandenza family is the major family in the story, Hal, the young tennis prodigy, as the major protagonist.  His father commits suicide (though contradictory reasons why he placed his head in the microwave oven) after a thwarted career as a filmmaker and the founder of the Enfield Tennis Academy, where Hal attends, is located in Boston, MA.  The film he produces, "Infinite Jest," is so entertaining it appears to make people lifeless, hmmm… déjà vu? (I felt that way myself).  The most entertaining part of the multiple stories for me is the Enfield Tennis Academy and the relationships among the students, and adults, such as the sexual relationship between Hal’s mom and the other highly rated tennis prodigy, John Wayne (not the movie star!).  Other comedic moments occur at The Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House, where drug abuse runs rampant.  Wallace’s characters depict a reality that only a person deeply troubled and living the life could possible create.  Now I’m not saying he was a drug abuser, but he clearly ran across some of these folks on the tennis court and in some ways through his own struggles with anti-depressant medications.  They are raw and give a glimpse into the complexities of our own generation. This is not at all a linear story and if you are looking for a “wrapped bow” story (nice, complete ending) this is not your book. I found this very helpful “How to” read the book to share with you: Click Here. When asked what did you think?  I laughed a lot, I was confused a lot, I thumbed back to endnotes a lot, and I carried the very heavy book around with me a LONG time.  Was it worth it?  Well, I’m glad I can say I read it, but over time I’ll probably have limited remembrance of it, maybe an “oh yeah” read it but…  It is a real commitment to read this book so think it through carefully before picking it up!