Why do people love what they love, and why do certain kinds of people love certain entertainments? In this section, despite his use of the phrase “tattoo-type-class person,” DFW is talking about a kind of fandom. It’s like the intoxication keeps your tattoo-type-class person from being able to project his imagination past the adrenaline of the impulse and even consider the permanent consequences that are producing the buzz of excitement. Even body art:īecause the whole thing about tattoos is that they’re permanent, of course, irrevocable once gotten-which of course the irrevocability of a tattoo is what jacks up the adrenaline of the intoxicated decision to sit down in the chair and actually get it (the tattoo)-but the chilling thing about the intoxication is that it seems to make you consider only the adrenaline of the moment itself, not (in any depth) the irrevocability that produces the adrenaline. Infinite Jest contains his thoughts on practically every facet on modern life. And here’s DFW, an artist who promises readability and erudition. This may explain the fanatic loyalty of his (white male) readers when you read DFW, you forget that his thoughts are not your own.Įloquent people forget how hard it is for non-writers to express their thoughts and feelings in evocative and clever ways. His stylistic habits-the studied casualness, the heavy meta-commentary, the high-and-low diction, the Midwest colloquialisms-were purposefully designed to create the illusion that you were reading your own voice in print for the first time. An intimate writer creates a mind-meld which is eerily Vulcan, and David Foster Wallace (DFW) was an intimate writer. The relationship between a good author and a reader leans towards the spooky. A successful book says, “Here are your own thoughts, Reader, reflected back at you in a more eloquent form.” You could argue that’s the whole point of writing: to erase the distinction between the author’s voice on the page and the reader’s voice in the reader’s head. Many (if not all) readers believe in their hearts that they, too, could write a book if they took the time. But writing is unique in that almost everyone can write a sentence. Talk about an entertainment you can’t quit.Īll fandoms attract toxic followers, and every celebrated creator has their share of unpleasant fans. Once, he lifted the book to his lips, and kissed it. But why are so many insufferable people in love with Infinite Jest? What about it drives them to read it, and to insist other folks do as well? One of the most unpleasant people I ever knew adored Infinite Jest-just loved it. Like most Big Works by Important Authors, the novel has never lacked for admirers.

David Foster Wallace’s tennis-academy-tale has been out for two decades.

Infinite jest first edition