Browse audiobooks written by david foster wallace sorted. A few weeks ago, i wrote the foreword for infinite summer, a summerlong collective read of infinite jest, david foster wallaces bigass novel and one of my favorite books. Unquestionably, infinite jest required great ambition and focus to write, and requires a bit of ambition and focus to read as well. The novel is widely noted for its unconventional narrative structure and its experimental use of endnotes there are a total of 388 endnotes, some with footnotes of their own. By most accounts the book has sold approximately two hundred and fifty thousand copies. In fact, its take on the very nature of entertainment itself perhaps foresaw the age of vanity and social media, as seen through the prisms of tinder, facebook, twitter and instagram. Infinite jest is both sad, depressed and funny and even 25 years after it was published in 1994 remains relevant to the modern age. 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. In a sprawling, wild, superhyped magnum opus, david foster wallace fulfills the promise of his precocious novel the broom of the system. Heres how i finally read infinite jest and how you can, too. The infinite jest utilities page, which includes chapter thumbnails and an endnote finder. In his own words by wallace, david foster may 20, 2014 audio cd. Sooner or later i had to see what the fuss was about. Infinite jest by david foster wallace free download.
Online shopping from a great selection at books store. This is long listen but the chapters are well paced, and as mentioned, sean pratt reads with a deep sensitivity and knowledge of the text and the author. A gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america set in an addicts halfway house and a tenn. I felt compelled throughout to read it aloud, such was the almost poetic quality of it. What its like to record the audiobook version of infinite. 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. Shakespeares book of insults, insights and infinite jests by william shakespeare and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. This index is based on tim wares infinite jest index pregnant pause fact it is wares index except for a few ads ive added and i post it here because the old url at indeed itself has gone to a better place. The childrens book of christmas stories various many librarians have felt the need and expressed the desire for a select collection of childrens christmas stories in one volume. Atlas shrugged is a huge sprawling dystopian novel that combines economics, science fiction, philosophy, and intrique. Infinite jest has become an exemplar for difficulty in contemporary fictionits 1,079 pages full of verbal invention, oblique narration, and a scattered, nonlinear, chronology. May 30, 2018 infinite jest by david foster wallace, 9780349121086, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Also, as a teacher, i look for works that sound related to things we study in class.
Infinite jest works well in audiobook form and this is in no small part helped by sean pratts fantastic reading complete with impressive changes in accent, tone and characterisation. Probably the most difficult part of reading this book is its length. Read infinite jest by david foster wallace available from rakuten kobo. Infinite jest by wallace, first edition abebooks passion for books. Infinite jest regularly appears on lists of reddit s favorite books. I kept telling myself that if i could just get to page 223, everything would be good. Like ahab and the white whale, i have my eyes set on page 223 of infinite jest. Infinite jest, david foster wallace, back bay books, 1996. Im more than 400 pages in, and i just dont understand the appeal. Apr, 2009 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. The programme also contains some rare archive reflections by a young david foster wallace, recorded a year before the publication of infinite jest. The novel is written in a modern popular style and is mostly highly readable. Endnotes david foster wallace bbc documentary youtube. In their posts on tips for reading the book, the guides four.
I think it was the withdrawal from bob hope that did him in all that mold stuff has to be a red herring, since we never got a 14 page footnote on the history of mold or something. Last summer, for example, i read the double bind because of its connection with the great gatsby. But infinite jest warned against the insidious virality of popular entertainment long before anyone but. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. One of my favorite things about rereading ij thus far has been sussing out the ways in which the novel is predictive of a future to come vs. These are the endnotes to david foster wallaces infinite jest, a gargantuan, mindaltering comedy about the pursuit of happiness in america. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. A readers guide was the first book to be published on the novel and is a key reference for those who wish to explore further.
But then a tall heavy afroamerican fellow with a gold incisor and perfect vertical cylinder of afroamerican hairstyle peeled away from a sort of grouphug nearby, hed spotted erdedy, and the fellow came over and established himself right in front of erdedy, spreading the arms of his fatigue jacket for a hug, stooping slightly and leaning in toward erdedys fersonal trunk region. Why i cannot recommend the infinite jest audio book was the title of a post published on the howling. Feb 04, 2016 if one of your reading resolutions is to finally finish infinite jest, david foster wallaces mammoth novel, im here to help. I remember it but couldnt tell you hals dads dogs name, it was obvious to me that the whole point of the book from dfws perspective, was to create the entertainment in real life, or, something close to it. Page 223 is supposed to be the page where everything happens in infinite jest. David foster wallace was born in ithaca, new york, in 1962 and raised in illinois, where he was a regionally ranked junior tennis player. He received bachelor of arts degrees in philosophy and english from amherst college and wrote what would become his first novel, the broom of the system, as his senior english thesis. Infinite summer blog archive how to read infinite jest. Calling to mind that infinite jest was published in 1996, dont think crystal meth is a new phenomenon. Infinite jest by david foster wallace coming february 7, 2012 ive tried to read the hardcopy version but made it to about page 300 before giving up. 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. I cant recommend the purchase of the what at first appears to be the amazing ive heard good things about the audio. David foster wallaces second novel is s et in an absurd but agonizingly believable nearfuture, and. Its not a stretch or very original to call infinite jest the defining work of the 1990s.
While i cant read the book not even the end notes for you, i. Wallace wrote to a friend that the fuckers cut by 600 pages from the first version. Infinite jest by foster wallace, david and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Listen to thousands of best sellers and new releases on your iphone, ipad, or android. Since i started infinite jest, my goal has been to suck it up until page 223. The glass castle audiobook,the glass,the glass castle,jeannette walls,new york bestseller,new york bestseller audiobook,glass castle,new york bestseller. Infinite jest ebook by david foster wallace rakuten kobo. What its like to record the audiobook version of infinite jest. Please keep these annotations spoilerfree by not revealing information from later pages in the novel. Some notes from 299 pages into a rereading of infinite jest. 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.
This is the second of a fourpart roundtable discussion with the infinite summer guides. Browse audiobooks written by david foster wallace sorted by best selling this month page 1 audiobooks. It continues to invite commentary and creative tributes. Jun 07, 2015 infinite jest is a rhetoricalaesthetic experience, not a plot. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction, features a huge cast and multilevel narrative, and questions essential elements of american culture our entertainments, our addictions, our relationships, our.
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