Infinite Jest

Submission 7,637

About

Infinite Jest is a novel by author David Foster Wallace. Published in 1996, the novel has been widely praised but has also grown notorious in literary circles for being lengthy and having an unconventional narrative structure, particularly in its experimental use of footnotes. It has also become associated with being a book beloved by pretentious males, leading to jokes about how owning Infinite Jest is a sign of toxic masculinity. There has also been significant backlash to those jokes, with people defending the book and arguing against people who dismiss it for its association with men.

History

Infinite Jest was published on February 1st, 1996 by Little, Brown and Company.^[1] The plot features several interweaving narratives, connected via a film that is so entertaining, everyone who watches it loses all motivation to do anything but rewatch it until they die.

The novel makes extensive use of endnotes and footnotes and lacks a definitive resolution, which helped add to its reputation as a difficult work. However, it was widely hyped and praised upon release. The Atlantic^[1] wrote, "The novel is confusing, yes, and maddening in myriad ways. It is also resourceful, hilarious, intelligent, and unique. Those who stay with it will find the whole world lit up as though by black light." Twelve years after its release, The New York Times^[2] called the book "a masterpiece that’s also a monster nearly 1,100 pages of mind-blowing inventiveness and disarming sweetness. Its size and complexity make it forbidding and esoteric." It was picked by TIME magazine^[3] as one of the best 100 books published between 1923 and the present.

Online Presence

Online, the book has been mocked as a status symbol, purchased by people who wish to look impressive but have never tried to read it. For example, in October of 2018, New Yorker^[5] writer Claire Friedman posted a humorous guide about "How to read Infinite Jest" which never involved actually reading it and instead gave tips such as "Take selfie with book 'accidentally' in background. Post on social media. Respond to dazzled commenters with 'I guess size does matter. ;)'." In memes, it was derisively included in a Starter Pack for people who write Sapiosexual in their dating profiles in a Reddit post^[4] on November 4th, 2018 (shown below, left). It was also included in a derisive I Wish I Was At Home edit mocking hipsters (shown below, right).

In 2017, a woman went viral for documenting her journey of slowly eating Infinite Jest.^[5] On Twitter, it has also been mocked as a signifier of a pretentious and undesirable man. For example, on December 23rd, 2018, Twitter user @savannahbrown^[6] defended people dismissive of Young Adult fiction by writing, "have fun masturbating while holding a copy of infinite jest in ur other hand i guess" (shown below, left). On July 8th, 2019, Twitter user @svershbow^[7] similarly used Infinite Jest in a strawman argument saying, "Stop criticizing people with color-coded bookshelves. I don't come into your house and throw shade at the unread copy of Infinite Jest that's been sitting on your nightstand since 2007."

Kel.drigo TikTok

On October 6th, 2020, Twitter user @in_a_dry_season reposted a TikTok video of a woman mocking books liked by "men who make fun of you for reading diverse female authors." The first book in her video was Infinite Jest.

The video led to a wave of anti-backlash to Infinite Jest, as people defended the book and criticized jokes which turned it into a punching bag. For example, user @rachel_pick^[8] tweeted, "i am begging you to please find a new thing to make fun of men over so we can move on from infinite jest. how about: Owning a rat’s nest of cords and cables. guys be doing that," gaining over 300 retweets and 7,900 likes (shown below, left). User @OsitaNwanevu^[9] tweeted that the book wasn't nearly as difficult as its reputation made it out to be, writing, "Infinite Jest and Kid A have the same problem. Critics convinced people they were Difficult when they aren't, at least not to the extent people claim. Toxicity followed. Neither takes a heroic amount of intelligence to apprehend. IJ is long and jumps around. That's mostly it!"