https://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=NotesFromEthnoground&feedformat=atomDavid Foster Wallace Wiki : Infinite Jest - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T00:04:07ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.25.1https://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=1297Main Page2011-06-11T17:57:11Z<p>NotesFromEthnoground: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Image:cover_IJ.jpg|310px|right]]<big>'''Welcome to the ''Infinite Jest'' Wiki'''</big><br />
<br />
To become a contributor/editor, [http://www.wallacewiki.com/mycaptcha/captcha-page.php '''Create an account.'''] <br />
<br />
:[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316066524?ie=UTF8&tag=hyperartspynchon&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0316066524 '''Order ''Infinite Jest''''']<br />
<br />
<div id="announcement-home"><br />
'''<span style="color:#f50">''Infinite Jest'' Character Diagram</span>'''<br /><br />
Sam Potts has created an amazing diagram that includes pretty much every character in <em>IJ</em> and their connections. In researching this, Sam tapped the knowledge of a number of <em>IJ</em> experts. Every fan of <em>IJ</em> simply must have this! It's 3' wide by 2' and you can check it out [http://sampottsinc.com/ij/ here &#187;]<br />
<br />
'''<span style="color:#f50">''The Pale King''</span>'''<br />David Foster Wallace's unfinished posthumous novel is to be published on April 15, 2011. Folks who've had a peek are raving about it. You can learn more about it on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pale_King Wikipedia] and on [http://www.thepaleking.com/ The Pale King website].<br />
</div><br />
<br />
<likebutton>http%3A%2F%2Finfinitejest.wallacewiki.com%2Fdavid-foster-wallace%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DMain_Page</likebutton><br />
<br />
This is the Wiki for [[David Foster Wallace]]'s ''Infinite Jest'', published in 1996 by Little Brown. Besides using the [[Infinite_Jest_Page_by_Page|page-by-page annotation]], you can also read the [[Reviews of Infinite Jest|reviews]], or [[Infinite Jest Obs|provide insights or observations]].<br />
<br />
''Special thanks to '''Andrew E. Mathis''' whose own IJ wiki has been folded into this one. Andrew's content gives the [[Infinite_Jest_Page_by_Page|page-by-page annotations]] a great kickstart. And to '''Erik Ketzan''' whose encouragement and prodding was instrumental in getting this all together. Erik runs his own excellent [http://literarywiki.org/index.php?title=Main_Page Literary Wiki website].''<br />
<br />
<br />
==How to Use this Wiki==<br />
<br />
The '''Spoiler-Free Annotations by Page''' allows the reader to look up and contribute allusions and references while reading the book, in a convenient and spoiler-free manner.<br />
<br />
Apart from that, it's up to you.<br />
<br />
==Page by Page Annotations==<br />
An alternate form of commentary on the text. The guiding principle of these annotations is to remain spoiler-free, so that readers can follow along without the fear that later parts of the book will be revealed..<br />
{{InfiniteJest PbP}}<br />
<br><p><br />
<br />
==Wallace Wiki Help and Contributor Guidelines==<br />
<br />
[[Help:Contents|'''Click here for help with editing and creating pages.''']]<br />
<br />
We have a few conventions we ask that you follow:<br />
<br />
* When creating a new page, first check to make sure a page/article about what you want to write about hasn't already been created, by '''[[Special:Allpages|checking the list of all Wiki pages on the ''Infinite Jest'' wiki]]'''. If a page already exists, please modify that one.<br />
<br />
* To open a discussion on an individual listing of the Alpha Index or Page by Page Annotations, give it a name that identifies the alpha listing (eg <nowiki>[[Discussion Subject|'''DISCUSSION''']]</nowiki>) and notice that the visible name will be "'''DISCUSSION'''" in bold and full caps, so it stands out a bit.<br />
<br />
* [[Help:Contents|More help for this wiki available here.]]<br />
<br />
==External Links==<br />
<br />
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest Wikipedia on ''Infinite Jest'']<br />
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foster_Wallace Wikipedia on David Foster Wallace]<br />
* [http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/dfw The Howling Fantods - Nick Maniatis' great DFW website]<br />
* [http://www.davidfosterwallace.com "Unofficial" DFW website]<br />
* [http://www.smallbytes.net/~bobkat/jesterlist.html Bob Wake's "Reviews, Articles & Miscellany"]<br />
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050411015008/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8175/ij_first.htm Steve Moore's Notes on "The First Draft Version of ''Infinite Jest'']<br />
* [http://paytonij.wikispaces.com/ Walter Payton College Prep Wiki]<br />
* [http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/oneill/Infinite.htm Scene-by-scene Guide]<br />
* [http://www.salon.com/09/features/wallace1.html Salon.com Interview, by Laura Miller, Mar 8, 1996]<br />
* [http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw960411david_foster_wallace Bookworm Interview with Michael Silverblatt, April 11, 1996]<br />
* [http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/5639 Charlie Rose Interview (Video), Mar 27, 1997]<br />
* [http://www.believermag.com/issues/200311/?read=interview_wallace Dave Eggers' Interview for ''The Believer'', Nov 2003]<br />
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23638939/getting_to_know_david_foster_wallace "Getting to Know David Foster Wallace" - RollingStone.com - David Lipsky, Oct 30, 2008]<br />
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23638511/the_lost_years__last_days_of_david_foster_wallace "The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace - RollingStone.com - David Lipsky, Oct 30, 2008]<br />
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/books/15wallace.html?_r=1 ''New York Times'' Obituary, Sept 14, 2008]<br />
* [http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/09/hbc-90003557 Download PDFs of all DFW's articles for ''Harper's Magazine'']<br />
* [http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Infinite_Jest Uncyclopedia on ''Infinite Jest'']<br />
* [http://www.pynchonwiki.com Thomas Pynchon Wiki]<br />
* [http://www.failedentertainment.com ''A Failed Entertainment'': Film and art exhibit based on the James O. Incandenza Filmography in ''Infinite Jest'']<br />
* Incandenza Filmography interpretations and other ''Infinite Jest''-inspired works online: [http://vimeo.com/21410100 "Infinite Jest IV"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKbGDQKgYQ "Zero Gravity Tea Ceremony"], [http://www.jessicasegall.com/Jessica_Segall/medusa.html "The Medusa v. The Odalisque"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbjRj6knREQ "The Cold Majesty of the Numb"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR2mYlq0reY "Kinds of Light"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoSzWNCZ11I "Baby Pictures of Famous Dicatators 2: Eschatong"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9com2cBzluk "Good-Looking Men In Small Clever Rooms That Utilize Every Centimeter Of Available Space With Mind-Boggling Efficiency"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se48SUvD8Nc "Cage - Planar Version"], [http://vimeo.com/12942780 "The Exhibit and the Cage"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUJ8OFvaxZU "Après-Garde Film"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kItb7K9k7lQ "For Infinite Jest"], [http://vimeo.com/23467576 "Sixty Minutes More or Less with Madame Psychosis"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN8_-hTa3g0 "Hal at Age 4"], [http://pooryorickentertainment.tumblr.com/ "Poor Yorick Entertainment" poster art]<br />
<br />
==Featured Articles==<br />
[[image:DFW-RollingStone.jpg|thumb|100px|left]]'''''Wall Street Journal''''': [http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/15/david-foster-wallace-his-secret-life-as-a-philosopher/ David Foster Wallace: His Secret Life As a Philosopher] Interesting article by Moira G. Weigel: "A new book from Columbia University Press reveals what his mentors and friends had long known: Wallace was also a talented philosopher."<br />
<br />
If you missed '''David Lipsky's''' excellent and sad "The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace", which appeared in ''Rolling Stone'' in the Oct 2008 issue, and used to be available online, it's too late. However, Mr Lipsky has a new book out, a ''memoire'' about his time spent with DFW, ''Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace''. You can read an excerpt [http://www.npr.org/tablet/#story/?storyId=126483112 here]. And it may soon be [http://www.observer.com/2009/media/david-lipskys-david-foster-wallace-book-finds-home-broadway adapted for Broadway]! Also, you can read [http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/04/the-challenge-of-writing-about-david-foster-wallace/39275/ ''The Atlantic'' magazine review].<br />
<br />
Also, [http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2008/09/14/david_foster_wallace/ a nice remembrance by Laura Miller on Salon.com &#187;]<br />
<br />
I think DFW would have been behind [http://savethewords.org/ SaveTheWords.org &#187;]<br />
<br />
[http://torontoist.com/2011/02/brief_interview_with_a_david_foster_wallace_book_club_founder.php Interview with DFW Book Club Founder, Peter Merriman] <br />
<br />
<div style="clear:both;"></div><br />
<br />
==Gallery==<br />
Below are some of the images you will find on this Wiki. {{Special:Newimages}}<br />
<br />
Enjoy...</div>NotesFromEthnogroundhttps://infinitejest.wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Infinite_Jest&diff=1296Infinite Jest2011-06-11T17:39:06Z<p>NotesFromEthnoground: Links to the James O Incandenza Filmography exhibit and Incandenza-inspired short films</p>
<hr />
<div>{{infobox Book |<br />
| name = Infinite Jest<br />
| image = [[Image:IJ_cover.jpg|230px]]<br />
| image_caption = U.S. First Edition, February 1, 1996<br />
| author = David Foster Wallace<br />
| country = United States<br />
| language = English<br />
| genre = Novel<br />
| publisher = Little, Brown<br />
| release_date = 1996<br />
| media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)<br />
| pages = 1079<br />
| isbn = ISBN 0-316-92004-5<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
'''''Infinite Jest''''' (1996) is a novel written by [[David Foster Wallace]]. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semi-parodic future version of North America. The novel touches on the topics of tennis; substance addiction and recovery programs; depression; child abuse; family relationships; advertising and popular entertainment; film theory; and Quebec separatism.<br />
<br />
''Time'' magazine included the novel in its ''TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005'' list.<ref name="TIME">{{Citation<br />
| last = Grossman<br />
| first = Lev<br />
| author-link = <br />
| last2 = Lacayo<br />
| first2 = Richard<br />
| author2-link = <br />
| title = TIME's Critics pick the 100 Best Novels, 1923 to present<br />
| newspaper = TIME<br />
| pages = <br />
| year = 2005<br />
| date = <br />
| url = http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Title==<br />
<br />
The novel derives its name in part from a line in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet Hamlet]'', in which Hamlet refers to the skull of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorick_(Hamlet) Yorick], the court jester: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is!" <br />
<br />
In addition to being the title given to the fictional film central to the story, reviewers have also considered the title a "sly wink at the book's massive girth."<ref name="TIME"/><br />
<br />
Wallace's working title for ''Infinite Jest'' had been ''A Failed Entertainment''.<ref name="TRS1">{{Citation<br />
| last = Lipsky<br />
| first = David<br />
| author-link = <br />
| last2 = <br />
| first2 = <br />
| author2-link = <br />
| title = The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace <br />
| newspaper = Rolling Stone<br />
| pages = 6 of 11<br />
| year = 2008<br />
| date = <br />
| url = http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23638511/the_lost_years__last_days_of_david_foster_wallace/6}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Setting==<br />
<br />
In the novel's future world, North America is one unified state comprising the United States, Canada, and Mexico, known as the Organization of North American Nations (O.N.A.N.). Corporations purchase naming rights to each calendar year, eliminating traditional numerical designations; for example, "The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment" and "The Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland". Much of what used to be the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada has become a hazardous waste dump known as the "Great Concavity" to Americans and as the "Great Convexity" to Canadians.<br />
<br />
The novel's primary locations are the Enfield Tennis Academy, Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House (footnoted "Redundancy sic" in the text), and a conversation between a Quebec separatist and a U.S. double agent outside of Tucson, AZ. Enfield Tennis Academy ("ETA") and Ennet House are separated by a hillside in suburban Boston, Massachusetts. Many characters are either students and faculty at the school or residents and staff at the halfway house.<br />
<br />
==Characters==<br />
===The Incandenza family===<br />
<br />
*'''[[I#joi|James Orin Incandenza]],''' an optics expert and filmmaker (see "Filmography" entries below in External Links), is the founder of the Enfield Tennis Academy. He is the creator of the Entertainment (a.k.a. ''Infinite Jest'' or "the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/samizdat samizdat]"), an enigmatic and fatally seductive film that was his final and most cherished creation. He was strongly attached to Joelle Van Dyne, his son Orin's strikingly beautiful girlfriend, and used her in many of his films, including the fatal Entertainment. It is suggested 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]]. He is a notoriously heavy drinker, preferring Wild Turkey whiskey. His nickname among the family is '''Himself'''. The family also refers to him as 'The Mad Stork' or 'The Sad Stork'.<br />
<br />
*'''[[I#ami|Avril Incandenza]],''' née '''Mondragon,''' is the (covertly) domineering mother of the Incandenza children and wife of James. A tall, beautiful Québécoise, she becomes a major figure at the Enfield Tennis Academy after the death of her husband and begins, or perhaps continues, a relationship with Charles Tavis, the new head of the academy and her either half- or adoptive brother. Her sexual relationships are a matter of some speculation/discussion; one with John "No Relation" Wayne is depicted. In one scene, James, speaking to Hal, refers to his "mother's cavortings with not one not two but over ''thirty'' Near Eastern medical attachés." She has a phobia of uncleanliness and disease, and is also described as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/agoraphobic agoraphobic]. She has an obsessive-compulsive need to watch over ETA and her two youngest sons, Hal and Mario, who live at the school. Avril and Orin are no longer in contact with each other. Her nickname among the family is "The Moms."<br />
<br />
*'''[[I#hji|Hal Incandenza]]''' is the youngest of the Incandenza children and arguably the protagonist of the novel, the events of which take place largely during his senior year at ETA. Hal is as prodigiously intelligent and talented as the other members of his family, but insecure about his abilities (and eventually his mental state). He has a difficult relationship with both his parents. He reads the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' and like his mother often corrects the grammar of his friends and family. Hal's mental degradation and alienation from those around him culminate in his chronologically last appearance in the novel, in which all of his attempts at speech appear to others as uncontrolled screaming. The origin of Hal's final condition is unclear. One possibility is that the mold Hal ingested as a child developed into a hallucinogenic drug known as DMZ, with Hal's marijuana withdrawal serving as a catalyst; alternatively, his friend Michael Pemulis (or another Academy resident) may have doped his toothbrush with that drug. An accidental viewing of the titular film is another possible cause. It is also possible that Hal was subjected to a "Technical Interview", as was his older brother Orin.<br />
<br />
*'''[[I#mi|Mario Incandenza]]''' is the Incandenzas' second son, although it is suggested that his father may be Charles Tavis rather than James. Severely deformed since birth (he is <balloon title="Having an exceptionally large head and brain" style="color:red">macrocephalic</balloon>, <balloon title="dentition in which the teeth closely resemble on another" style="color:red">homodontic</balloon>, and stands or walks at a 45 degree angle) he is nonetheless perennially cheerful. He is also a budding auteur, having served as camera and directorial assistant to James, and later inheriting the prodigious studio equipment and film lab built by his father on the grounds of the Academy. Hal, although younger, acts like a supportive older brother. Hal's nickname for Mario is "Booboo". <br />
<br />
*'''[[I#oi|Orin Incandenza]]''' is the eldest son of the Incandenzas. He is a punter for the Arizona Cardinals and a serial womanizer, and is estranged from everyone in his family except Hal. In theory, Orin lost his attraction to Joelle after she supposedly became deformed when her mother threw acid in her face during a Thanksgiving dinner, but cites Joelle's questionable relationship with his father as the reason for the breakup. After breaking up with Joelle, Orin focuses his womanizing on young mothers; it is suggested by Hal that this is related to his blaming the Moms for the death of Himself.<br />
<br />
===The Enfield Tennis Academy===<br />
<br />
*'''Michael Pemulis''' - A working-class child from an Allston, Massachuesetts family and Hal's best friend. Pemulis is a prankster and the school's resident drug dealer. He is also very proficient in mathematics. This, combined with his limited but ultraprecise lobbing, made him the school's first Eschaton master. (Eschaton, a computer-aided turn-based nuclear wargame, requires that players be adept both at game theory and pegging targets with tennis balls. Pemulis is thus the archetypal Eschaton player.) Although the novel takes place long after Pemulis' Eschaton days (the game is played by twelve- to fourteen-year-olds), Pemulis is still regarded as the game's all-time great, and a final court of appeal in game matters. His brother Matt is a gay hustler.<br />
<br />
*'''Ortho "The Darkness" Stice''' - Another of Hal's close friends. He only endorses brands that have black-colored products, and is at all times clad entirely in black. In a 3-setter, he nearly defeats Hal Incandenza late in the book, and becomes a more significant character as his ability to deny selfhood is realized. It is likely that Ortho is being visited by the ghost of Himself.<br />
<br />
*'''John "No Relation" Wayne''' - The top ranked player at ETA. John Wayne was discovered by James Incandenza during interviews of men named [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne John Wayne] for a film. He is frighteningly efficient, controlled, and almost machine-like on the court. John Wayne is almost never directly quoted in the narrative; his statements are nearly always either summarized by the narrator or repeated by other characters. His Canadian and Quebecois citizenship has been revoked since he came to ETA. His father is a sick asbestos miner in Quebec who hopes that John will soon start earning "serious $" in the Show to "take him away from all this" (see "6 November YDAU, the meet with Port Washington").<br />
<br />
*'''LaMont Chu''' - One of the 14-15 year old students at Enfield. He consults "sweat guru" Lyle for counsel after he becomes obsessed with attaining the more superficial rewards of success in professional tennis, and finds that his performance suffers from this obsession. His quixotic pursuit of fame has led some to suggest his name as a take-off of '[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote|La Mancha]'.<br />
<br />
*'''Ann Kittenplan''' - Another tennis student at Enfield. One of the many players who becomes violently unhinged during the resident Eschaton tournament.<br />
<br />
===The Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House===<br />
<br />
*'''Don Gately''' - A former thief and Demerol addict, and current counselor in residence at the Ennet House. One of the novel's primary characters, Gately is physically enormous, an avid [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholics_Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous] member, and intricately (though not obviously) connected to both the Enfield Tennis Academy and the international struggle to seize the master copy of the Entertainment. During his middle-school and high-school years, Gately's size rendered him a formidable football talent, and he excelled in both offensive and defensive capacities. Gately is known for his toothbrush-in-ass tactic (an outrageous scene that was a favorite at public Wallace readings) and is the accidental murderer of M. DuPlessis, a leader of one of the many separatist Quebecois organizations and a samizdat conspirator. Gately, like Ortho Stice, is visited by the ghost of James O. Incandenza.<br />
<br />
*'''Joelle Van Dyne''' (a.k.a. "Madame Psychosis" (her on-air name, a play on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/metempsychosis metempsychosis]), a.k.a. "The Prettiest Girl of All Time (or P.G.O.A.T.)") - The primary figure in the Entertainment. In the work, which is filmed through a wobbly "neo-natal" lens, she is seen reaching down to the camera, as if it were in a bassinet, and apologizing profusely. This is said to trigger an addictive pleasure complex in the viewer, which makes even partial viewing of the Entertainment suicidal. She wears a veil to hide her face, which was once strikingly beautiful. A member of the "Union of the Hideously and Improbably Deformed", she may be disfigured; based on an account by the unreliable Molly Notkin, her mother hit Joelle's face with a corrosive chemical compound produced by her father, an amateur mixologist who worked with acidic compounds. Despite Notkin's unreliability, however, it is likely that Joelle was to some extent disfigured by acid, given Orin's lack of interest in her following the incident and her repeated references to "the acid". She tries to "eliminate her own map" (that is, commit [[suicide]]) in Molly Notkin's bathroom via massive ingestion of freebase cocaine, which lands her in the Ennet House as a resident. She develops a strong connection to Don Gately and considers showing him what lies beneath the veil after his heroic actions in the middle of the text.<br />
<br />
*'''Kate Gompert''' - A marijuana ("cannabinoid") addict who suffers from extreme unipolar depression. She shares a name with a former acquaintance of David Foster Wallace, who sued the author and his publisher following the release of the novel. <br />
<br />
*'''Pat Montesian''' - The Ennet House manager. She is a recovering addict, stroke victim with partial facial paraylsis, and the wife of Mars Montesian, a Boston billionaire. Pat is especially fond of Don Gately.<br />
<br />
*'''Ken Erdedy''' - A cannabinoid addict introduced early in the novel. <br />
<br />
*'''Bruce Green''' - Ex-husband of Mildred Bonk Green. He once lived with Tommy Doocey, a harelipped pot dealer for Erdedy, et al. He is reticent and fondly thought of as stoic by Gately. He accompanies Lenz on post-AA meeting walks back to Ennet House, unwittingly preventing Lenz from murdering neighborhood pets.<br />
<br />
*'''Randy Lenz''' - Cocaine addict and obsessive compulsive, residing at Ennet House not to recover, but to hide from both the police and a group of drug dealers involved in a tremendous simultaneous con. The stress of hiding, combined with partial withdrawal from cocaine, leads him to torturing animals, which in turn leads to the novel's climactic fight scene. His name may be a reference to the novella 'Lenz' by [[Georg Büchner]], the subject of which is 18th-century German writer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Michael_Reinhold_Lenz Jakob Michael Reinhold], a schizophrenic whose ruminations while taking a long walk make up much of the novella.<br />
<br />
*'''Tiny Ewell''' - A lawyer with dwarfism. He is obsessed with the tattoos of fellow Ennet House residents, and develops a classification system for them.<br />
<br />
*'''Geoffrey Day''' - A pompously verbose Ennet House resident and professor at a junior college. He enters rehabilitation after crashing his Saab into a department store. Previously, he wrote an article on the Wheelchair Assassins and their pre-adolescent train-jumping game.<br />
<br />
*'''Calvin Thrust''' - Former porn star who was featured in several of Himself's films.<br />
<br />
*'''Emil Minty''' - A hardcore smack-addict punk with a palsy and a tattoo of a swastika with the caption "FUCK NIGERS" on his left bicep, which he is heartily encouraged by Ennet House staff to keep covered.<br />
<br />
===Les Assassins en Fauteuils Roulants===<br />
<br />
Les Assassins en Fauteuils Roulants (A.F.R.), known in English as the Wheelchair Assassins, are a Quebecois separatist group. They are one of many such groups that developed after the United States coerced Canada and Mexico into joining the Organization of North American Nations (O.N.A.N.), but the A.F.R. is the most deadly and extremist. While other separatist groups are willing to settle for nationhood, the A.F.R. wants Canada to secede from O.N.A.N. and to reject America's forced gift of its polluted "Great Concavity" (or, Hal and Orin speculate, is pretending that those are its goals to put pressure on Canada to let Quebec secede). The Antitoi brothers suffer gruesome fates at the hands of the A.F.R. because they are members of a separatist group whose goals the A.F.R. finds unacceptably moderate. The A.F.R. seeks the master copy of ''Infinite Jest'' as a terrorist weapon to achieve its anti-experialist goals. The A.F.R. has its roots in a childhood game in which miners' sons line up alongside a train track and compete to be the last one to jump across the path of an oncoming train, an activity in which many were killed or maimed.<br />
<br />
Only one miner's son has (disgracefully) failed to jump &ndash; Bernard Wayne, who may be related to ETA's John Wayne. Quebecois Avril's liaisons with Wayne and with the half-Canadian attache accidentally killed by Don Gately suggest that she may have ties to the A.F.R. as well. There is also evidence linking ETA prorector Thierry Poutrincourt to the group.<br />
<br />
*'''Rémy Marathe''' - Member of the Wheelchair Assassins who secretly talks to Hugh/Helen Steeply. Marathe is a quadruple agent: the AFR thinks that he is a triple agent, only pretending to betray the AFR, while Marathe and Steeply know that he only pretends to pretend to betray them. He does this in order to secure medical support for his wife (who was born without a skull) from the Office of Unspecified Services. Late in the novel, Marathe is sent to infiltrate Ennett House in the guise of a Swiss drug addict.<br />
<br />
===Miscellaneous characters===<br />
*'''Poor Tony Krause (P.T. Krause)''' - A drag queen formerly associated with Michael Pemulis's older brother, Matty, as well as Randy Lenz. Throughout the novel, Poor Tony is on a harrowing downward spiral of drug use and seizures.<br />
<br />
*'''Medical attaché''' - A medical attaché in charge of a Saudi prince who eats only Toblerone. He goes home to his wife and sits in his chair to escape reality. He is the first character in the novel rendered insane by repeated viewing of the Entertainment cartridge. <br />
<br />
*'''Hugh/Helen Steeply''' - Cross-dresser with whom Orin Incandenza becomes obsessed. He works for the government Office of Unspecified Services, but is doing undercover work trying to get information out of Orin to find out more about the Entertainment. He talks to Marathe secretly.<br />
<br />
*'''Gene Fackelmann (a.k.a. "Fax")''' - A member of Gately's former book-keeping enforcement crew. Fackelmann was a Dilaudid addict whose behavior (particularly his involvement in a scheme involving Whitey Sorkin, Sixties Bob, Eighties Bill and about $250,000 U.S.D.) brings the pathetic nature of drug addiction to Gately's attention for the first time.<br />
<br />
==Plot/Synopsis==<br />
The plot partially revolves around the missing master copy of a film cartridge, titled ''Infinite Jest'' and referred to in the novel as "the Entertainment" or "the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/samizdat samizdat]". The film is so entertaining to its viewers that they become lifeless, losing all interest in anything other than endless viewings of the film. Quebec separatists are interested in acquiring a Master, redistributable copy of the work.<br />
<br />
==Subsidized Time==<br />
In the book's future, advertising's relentless search for new markets has led to a world where, by O.N.A.N. dictate, years are referred to by the name of their corporate sponsor.<br />
<br />
#Year of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whopper Whopper]<br />
#Year of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucks_Pads Tucks] Medicated Pad<br />
#Year of the Trial-Size [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_(chocolate) Dove] Bar<br />
#Year of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perdue_Farms Perdue] Wonderchicken<br />
#Year of the Whisper-Quiet [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maytag Maytag] Dishmaster<br />
#Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile<br />
#Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland<br />
#Year of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depend Depend] Adult Undergarment<br />
#Year of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glad_(company) Glad]<br />
<br />
Most of the action in the novel takes place in the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment, or Y.D.A.U., which is probably [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_Calendar Gregorian] 2009. Critic Stephen Burn, in his book on ''Infinite Jest'', argues that Y.D.A.U. corresponds to 2009: the MIT Language Riots took place in 1997 (n. 24) and those riots occurred 12 years prior to Y.D.A.U. (n. 60). Also, if the "2007" in "Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile" refers to the pre-subsidization-style numerical date convention, then Y.D.A.U., which comes two years later, would be 2009.<br />
<br />
It is also possible that Y.D.A.U. is 2008, as Matty Pemulis turns 23 in Y.D.A.U. (p. 682). Matty and Mike Pemulis' father immigrated from Ireland in 1989 when Matty was "three or four" (p. 683). If Matty had been three and four in 1989, he was born in 1985, which mean he turns 23 in 2008.<br />
<br />
Also, in the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment, November 4 falls on a Wednesday (176). If Subsidized Time is parallel to real-world time, this means that Y.D.A.U. would be either 2009 or 2015. Yet, Thanksgiving of the Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad falls on 24 November (793). Accordingly, Y.T.M.P has to be either 2005 or 2011, meaning that the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment would be 2012 or 2018, respectively.<ref>Wallace, David Foster. ''Infinite Jest.'' 1st. ed. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company. 1996</ref><br />
<br />
==Geographic location==<br />
<br />
The fictional Enfield Tennis Academy is a series of buildings laid out as a cardioid on top of a hill on Commonwealth Avenue. This detail has certain thematic resonance, as ETA is in many ways the heart of the novel's setting, and a permutation of the American myth of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_upon_a_Hill City upon a hill]. Ennet House lies directly downhill of ETA, facilitating many of the interactions between characters residing in both locations.<br />
<br />
Orin lives in Arizona, a state where much of the dialogue between Helen Steeply and Remy Marathe takes place, and the student union of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology]&mdash;in the novel the structure is built in the shape of the human brain&mdash;is both the broadcasting site of Madame Psychosis's radio show and the location of a potentially devastating tennis tournament between ETA and Canadian youths.<br />
<br />
Enfield is largely a stand-in for [[Brighton, Massachusetts]]. Wallace's description of life in Enfield and neighboring Allston contrasts with the largely idyllic life of students at ETA. The real-life town of [[Enfield, Massachusetts|Enfield]] is now submerged under the [[Quabbin Reservoir]].<br />
<br />
Wallace wrote the book while living in Syracuse, New York.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf?/base/news-15/122155534751021.xml| publisher=Syracuse Online| title=Author created 'Jest' in Syracuse| accessdate=2008-09-16| }}</ref><br />
<br />
==Stylistic elements==<br />
<br />
*There are frequent references to endnotes throughout the novel. In an interview with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Rose Charlie Rose], Wallace characterized their use as a method of disrupting the linearity of the text while maintaining some sense of narrative cohesion.<br />
<br />
*Acronyms are another signature device in Wallace's work and are used frequently within the novel.<br />
<br />
*Wallace's writing voice is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/postmodern postmodern] mixture of high- and low-brow linguistic traits. He juxtaposes, often within a single sentence, colloquialisms and polysyllabic, highly esoteric words.<br />
<br />
== Critical literature ==<br />
=== Surveys ===<br />
<br />
* Marshall Boswell, ''Understanding David Foster Wallace''. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003. ISBN 1-57003-517-2<br />
* 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.<br />
<br />
=== In-depth studies ===<br />
<br />
* Burn, Stephen. ''David Foster Wallace's'' Infinite Jest'': A Reader's Guide''. New York, London: Continuum, 2003 (= Continuum Contemporaries) ISBN 0-8264-1477-X<br />
* Carlisle, Greg. "Elegant Complexity: A Study of David Foster Wallace's 'Infinite Jest'". Hollywood: SSMG Press, 2007.<br />
* Cioffi, Frank Louis. "An Anguish Becomes Thing: Narrative as Performance in David Foster Wallace's ''Infinite Jest''". ''Narrative'' 8.2 (2000), 161-181. <br />
* Delfino, Andrew Steven. "Becoming the New Man in Post-Postmodernist Fiction: Portrayals of Masculinities in David Foster Wallace's ''Infinite Jest'' and [[Chuck Palahniuk]]'s ''[[Fight Club]]''". MA Thesis, Georgia State University. [http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04202007-113340/unrestricted/delfino_andrew_s_200705_ma.pdf]<br />
* Goerlandt, Iannis. "'Put the book down and slowly walk away': Irony and David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest". ''Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction'' 47.3 (2006), 309-328.<br />
* Holland, Mary K. "'The Art's Heart's Purpose': Braving the Narcissistic Loop of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest". ''Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction'' 47.3 (2006), 218-242.<br />
* Jacobs, Timothy. “The Brothers Incandenza: Translating Ideology in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ''The Brothers Karamazov'' and David Foster Wallace’s ''Infinite Jest''.” ''Texas Studies in Literature and Language'' 49.3 (2007): 265-292.<br />
* Jacobs, Timothy. “The Brothers Incandenza: Translating Ideology in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ''The Brothers Karamazov'' and David Foster Wallace’s ''Infinite Jest''.” ''Contemporary Literary Criticism'' Vol. 271. Ed. Jeffrey Hunter. New York: Gale, 2009. Forthcoming.<br />
* Jacobs, Timothy. “American Touchstone: The Idea of Order in Gerard Manley Hopkins and David Foster Wallace.” ''Comparative Literature Studies'' 38.3 (2001): 215-231. <br />
* Jacobs, Timothy. “David Foster Wallace’s ''Infinite Jest''.” ''The Explicator'' 58.3 (2000): 172-175.<br />
* Jacobs, Timothy. “David Foster Wallace’s ''The Broom of the System''.” Ed. Alan Hedblad. ''Beacham’s Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction''. Vol 15. New York: Thomson-Gale, 2001. 41-50.<br />
* LeClair, Tom. "The Prodigious Fiction of [[Richard Powers]], [[William Vollmann]], and David Foster Wallace". ''Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction'' 38.1 (1996), 12-37. <br />
* Nichols, Catherine "Dialogizing Postmodern Carnival: David Foster Wallace's ''Infinite Jest''". ''Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction'' 43.1 (2001), 3-16.<br />
<br />
===Interviews===<br />
<br />
* Laura Miller, "The Salon Interview: David Foster Wallace". ''Salon'' 9 (1996). [http://archive.salon.com/09/features/wallace1.html]<br />
* Michael Goldfarb, "David Foster Wallace". Radio interview for ''The Connection'' ([[25 June]] [[2004]]). ([http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2004/06/20040625_b_main.asp full audio interview])<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<references/><br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
* [http://www.smallbytes.net/~bobkat/jesterlist.html ''Infinite Jest''. Reviews, Articles, & Miscellany]<br />
* [http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/dfw.htm The Howling Fantods! - David Foster Wallace: News, Info, Links]<br />
* [http://www.kottke.org/09/01/the-words-of-david-foster-wallace Vocabulary in Infinite Jest]<br />
* [http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bw/bw960411david_foster_wallace Wallace talking about his novel]<br />
* [http://www.thenewcanon.com/infinte_jest.html "Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace"] by Ted Gioia ([http://www.thenewcanon.com The New Canon])<br />
* [http://www.failedentertainment.com ''A Failed Entertainment'': Film and art exhibit based on the James O. Incandenza Filmography]<br />
* Incandenza Filmography interpretations and other ''Infinite Jest''-inspired works online: [http://vimeo.com/21410100 "Infinite Jest IV"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKbGDQKgYQ "Zero Gravity Tea Ceremony"], [http://www.jessicasegall.com/Jessica_Segall/medusa.html "The Medusa v. The Odalisque"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbjRj6knREQ "The Cold Majesty of the Numb"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR2mYlq0reY "Kinds of Light"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoSzWNCZ11I "Baby Pictures of Famous Dicatators 2: Eschatong"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9com2cBzluk "Good-Looking Men In Small Clever Rooms That Utilize Every Centimeter Of Available Space With Mind-Boggling Efficiency"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se48SUvD8Nc "Cage - Planar Version"], [http://vimeo.com/12942780 "The Exhibit and the Cage"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUJ8OFvaxZU "Après-Garde Film"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kItb7K9k7lQ "For Infinite Jest"], [http://vimeo.com/23467576 "Sixty Minutes More or Less with Madame Psychosis"], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN8_-hTa3g0 "Hal at Age 4"], [http://pooryorickentertainment.tumblr.com/ "Poor Yorick Entertainment" poster art]<br />
<br />
<br />
{{Top}}</div>NotesFromEthnoground