Is one book long. And I give myself about a 65 percent chance of completing it.
The reason for the truncated expectations is that I’ve decided to participate in Infinite Summer. Don’t be misled by the name; (perhaps unfortunately) Infinite Summer isn’t some high school nostalgia-fest or eighties music party. Rather, it’s basically a support group for people wanting to tackle David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. In all its 1000-page glory (plus 200 pgs of endnotes!)
Honestly, the book is a little intimidating even to hold.
But I’ve become a very big DFW fan in my usual way-behind-the-curve fashion, and Infinite Jest is definitely his magnum opus. I pretty much have to give it a shot at some point, and what better way to do it than with the support of the internet? So starting now and continuing through September 21st (and, let’s face it, probably way beyond then), I’ll be immersed in all things Hal Incandenza.
Mostly I’m posting this to encourage others to perhaps join me in this pursuit. It’ll be worth it, I promise! But I’d also appreciate your good thoughts/karma. Seriously, this book is 5x too smart for me…
Update: From the Department of Happy Coincidences, it appears that Colin Meloy will be joining me in Infinite Summer. Sweet!
Photo from the Flickr.
Huh, I assumed DFW meant Dallas-Fort Worth.
I want to hear more about Assateague camping! And Fries Days.
Quite an ambitious list!