Infinite Jest
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Infinite Jest (1996) is a critically acclaimed novel written by David Foster Wallace. An extremely complex and intricately written work (including over 100 pages of endnotes), it is set in a semi-parodic future dystopian version of North America. In this world, North America is one unified state composed of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Corporations purchase the naming rights to the calendar year, hence, for example: "The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment". Furthermore, much of what used to be the Northeastern United States has become a massive hazardous waste dumping site known as "The Great Concavity."
The novel touches on themes as diverse as tennis; substance addiction and recovery programs; child abuse; advertising and popular entertainment; film and film theory; and Quebec separatism.
The plot device unifying these disparate themes is a film cartridge, referred to in the novel as "the Entertainment", but titled "Infinite Jest" by its auteur. Only a smiley face identifies the cartridge. The film is so "entertaining" to its unwitting viewers that they become vegetables, with no interest in anything other than infinite viewings of the film.
The novel derives its name, at least in part, from a line in Hamlet, in which the title character refers to Yorick as "a fellow of infinite jest". See also Shakespeare-based titles.
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Characters
The Incandenza Family
- Avril Incandenza, née Mondragon, is the domineering mother of the Incandenza children and wife to James. A beautiful Quebequoise, she becomes a major figure at the Enfield Tennis Academy after the death of her husband. She begins, or perhaps continues, a relationship with Charles Tavis, the new head of the academy and her half brother. Her sexual relations are a matter of some discussion, with some hints that she has slept with, among others, John "No Relation" Wayne or perhaps even Orin. Her nickname among the family is The Moms. The Moms' behavior is also characterized, among other things, with a fear of doors and overhead lighting and an obsessive compulsive need to watch over ETA and her two children living at ETA (Hal and Mario). It is also noteworthy that Avril and Orin are no longer in contact with each other.
- Hal Incandenza is the youngest of the Incandeza children and is arguably the protagonist of the story, with events mainly centered around his time at the Enfield Tennis Academy. As prodigiously intelligent and talented as the other members of his family, Hal is nonetheless insecure about his own abilities (and eventually his own mental state) and has a difficult relationship with both his parents. He reads the Oxford English Dictionary and often corrects the grammar of his friends and family (much like his mother). As the end of the novel nears, Hal's mental state progresses into an almost complete alienation from the people and things around him, culminating in the 'seizures' that take place in the Year of Glad. In this regard, strong parallels can be drawn between him and the title character of Hamlet.
- James O. Incandenza is the founder of the Enfield Tennis Academy and a filmmaker. He is the creator of the Entertainment (aka Infinite Jest or the samizdat). He had a strong degree of attachment to Joelle Van Dyne, using her in many of his films; the precise nature of this relationship (particularly whether or not it is platonic) remains uncertain. It is proposed that he can create and view the Entertainment without becoming entranced because at the time of its creation he is already insane. He appears in the book mainly either in flashbacks or as a ghost, having committed suicide by placing his head in a microwave oven. His nickname among the family is Himself.
- Mario Incandenza is the intermediate child of the Incandenzas, although there is some insinuation in the novel that in fact he may be the child of Charles Tavis rather than James. Severely deformed since birth, he is nonetheless perenially cheerful. The typical relationship between Hal and him is reversed, with Hal playing the role of a supportive elder brother despite the age difference. Hal's nickname for him is Booboo.
- Orin Incandenza is the eldest son of the Incandenzas. He is a serial womaniser who plays professional football and is estranged from all members of the family except Hal. He met and fell in love with Joelle Van Dyne (introducing her to his father), but later lost his attraction to her.
The Enfield Tennis Academy
- Michael Pemulis (aka The Peemster, Penis-less)
- Ortho "The Darkness" Stice
- John "No Relation" Wayne
The Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House
- Don Gately is a former drug addict and current counselor in residence at the Ennet House. He is one of the central characters in the book, second only to Hal.
- Joelle Van Dyne, aka Madame Psychosis on the radio (her on-air name a play on metempsychosis) ; aka the Prettiest Girl of All Time (or PGOAT), as called by Orin.
- Kate Gompert
- Ken Erdedy
- Bruce Green
- Randy Lenz
- Tiny Ewell
Les Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents
This is a group of Quebecois terrorists whose actions, motives, and goals are never made entirely clear. Much of their action involves searching for a Master Copy of the samizdat (extant copies in circulation are read-only), and they spend some time pursuing Orin Incandenza towards this end. Their ultimate goal appears to be forcing Canada to allow Quebec's secession: they hope that circulating copies of the samizdat in the United States will create such a pandemic of semi-comatose victims that the U.S. will put pressure on Canada to let go of Quebec. They are legless or otherwise crippled as the result of a childhood daredevil game which involved playing chicken with trains. The name is roughly equivalent to "The Wheelchair Assassins".
Subsidized Time
- Year of the Whopper
- Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad
- Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar
- Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken
- Year of the Whisper-Quiet Maytag Dishmaster
- Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile (sic)
- Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland
- Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
- Year of Glad
More on the Setting of the Story
Readers familiar with Brighton, Massachusetts will recognize that Enfield is largely a stand-in for Brighton. The pictures of Enfield and neighboring Allston that Wallace paints, however, seem to serve simply as points of contrast for the largely idyllic life of students at ETA.
Literature
Surveys
- Marshall Boswell, Understanding David Foster Wallace. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003. ISBN 1570035172
- Iannis Goerlandt and Luc Herman, "David Foster Wallace." Post-war Literatures in English: A Lexicon of Contemporary Authors 56 (2004), 1-16; A1-2, B1-2.
In-depth studies
- Tom LeClair, "The Prodigious Fiction of Richard Powers, William Vollmann, and David Foster Wallace." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 38.1 (1996), 12-37.
- Frank Louis Coffi, "An Anguish Becomes Thing: Narrative as Performance in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest." Narrative 8.2 (2000), 161-181.
- Catherine Nichols, "Dialogizing Postmodern Carnival: David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 43.1 (2001), 3-16.
- Stephen Burn, David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: A Reader's Guide. New York, London: Continuum, 2003 (= Continuum Contemporaries) ISBN 082641477X
Interviews
- Laura Miller, "The Salon Interview: David Foster Wallace." Salon 9 (1996). [1] (http://archive.salon.com/09/features/wallace1.html)
- Michael Goldfarb, "David Foster Wallace." Radio interview for The Connection (25 June 2004). (full audio interview (http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2004/06/20040625_b_main.asp))
Web Resources
- Infinite Jest. Reviews, Articles, & Miscellany (http://www.smallbytes.net/~bobkat/jesterlist.html)
- THE HOWLING FANTODS! - David Foster Wallace: News, Info, Links (http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/dfw.htm)