Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace · 1962–2008 · United States
Why it matters
A tennis academy, a halfway house, and a film so entertaining it kills those who watch it. Wallace's maximalist, footnoted epic of an America addicted to pleasure: postmodernism turned to a moral purpose.
At a glance
postmodernsatirephilosophical novel
Difficulty 10/10slow pace1079 pagesA sprawling nonlinear structure, hundreds of endnotes, and dense prose test any reader.
Deep dive
What it means that a culture this saturated in entertainment eventually has to invent a fictional weapon out of pure, undiluted pleasure — and why almost nobody in the novel can want anything moderately.
Where to go next
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