In the spirit of an online recipe blog, allow me first some introspection, reflection, and then the resources and direction for you to do it yourself…
No one should have to read a 1,088 page book by themselves. But I’ve found there’s no more reliable conversation starter than Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, published in February 1996, clocking in at 1,088 pages with 386 endnotes in 8pt font. It published with great hype onto the bestseller lists and changed contemporary fiction forever.
It’s my desert island book.
If only I could have that forced monk-ish time and dedication to this book, imagining the countless (nay, infinite) treasures and easter eggs and connections that reliably reward re-readings of this book!
Instead I have only just now re-read it for the first time, sixteen years after my original reading of it in 2009. I simply never re-read books as an adult (something I used to do constantly as a younger reader), given the always-growing list of books I have yet to crack the covers of, but with the 30th anniversary of the publication of Infinite Jest and the opportunity to participate in a monthly group read with McNally Jackson’s ‘Jest Fest’ at their South Seaport location, I chose to revisit this masterpiece and I’m glad I did.
Table of Contents
2009
As a very active Tumblr user (2007-mid 2010s), I was overjoyed to discover fellow DFW fans on the social network. I came to first read David Foster Wallace circa 2000 when I read ‘the cruise story’ during a college travel writing class (that I elbowed my way into because I heard they were reading Fear and Loathing) which I feel is how most people honestly come to starting their DFW journey. It was so smart and funny that I couldn’t help but fall in love… but his fiction seemed more intimidating and inaccessible that I stayed on the non-fiction side of his catalog.
Enter ‘Infinite Summer‘ in 2009. I don’t know where this idea came about to group-read Infinite Jest online during the summer of 2009, but of course I found out about it on Tumblr.
The concept was simple. There would be a blog (naturally hosted on Tumblr, among other platforms) and weekly posts with a guide and a reflection, encouraging everyone to read 75-100 pages a week and we’d be done in 12 weeks. Without this community, I would never have finished—much less started—the book that would change my life.
I was 25 and hauling around a 3.2 pound paperback book with two bookmarks in my messenger bag, stealing every free moment I had during commutes on the subway (near impossible to hold and read standing up), lunches at work, plane travel, and every where I’d be waiting for something around New York City for an entire summer.
The common first-read impact of IJ is that the book cracks your head open in the best way. I’d never read anything like it (or since). I describe the magic of DFW’s words on paper as writing the way someone thinks, in both stream-of-consciousness and meandering meta-references, and suddenly you’re sharing your brain with someone else.
To do it right would require a dictionary, an interpreter, and a hive-mind of others undergoing the same experience. Thankfully Infinite Summer provided all that and more, making IJ the best beach read and summer book club I have ever had as a reader. The archive is still online and you can join anytime. Reddit reads the book every summer. Simply start… and don’t stop until it’s done with you.
2026
Fast forward 15 years and now we’re coming up on the 30th anniversary of the book’s initial publication. Everyone is saying the novel is more relevant now than ever and everyone is right.
I’m no longer the 25 year old reading DFW’s fiction writing for the first time. I’ve read his other novels and short stories, as well as everything about DFW that’s published in the wake of his 2008 suicide. I’m now a parent in my early forties and I’d say a more empathetic person albeit less patient reader, struggling to keep up with 100 pages a month (squeezed in around other books I’m reading) for this Jest Fest Club.
But I’m now meeting monthly in-person (something missing from my first go-around with IJ) with first-time and fourth-time readers of all ages and backgrounds. The discussions are loose, rambling, and incredibly engaging. Everyone has different favorite lines that they read aloud from each section, and wide ranging insights they bring to the group.
This time around I’m no longer tied to just the paperback edition. I’m listening to the audiobook (51hrs+ and while some monologues work well enough, I can’t recommend it for a first read because it’s hard to follow and you don’t get the endnotes as intended), reading the ebook (do recommend, if just for the dictionary feature and connivence) on my Kindle/iPhone/Cloud, and switching between my black-market three part editions with footnotes (as opposed to endnotes) as well as the full paperback version.
To read it now in 2026, I’m far more appreciative just how much DFW saw everything coming and you’ll never read the sections about USA’s tv President Gentle’s isolationist geo-politics or the video phone culture the same way. Even the idea of the entertainment as an addictive binge-able endless stream of visual consumerism hits way harder in our streaming era. Throw in terrorism, competitive youth sports, and rehabilitation houses… everything is relatable. Now that I own a car in NYC, I’m particularly struck by the alternative-side parking rituals in Infinite Jest. You too will find something new each time you read it.
Like DFW himself trains you to do, you have to put in the work, keep coming back, and don’t give up. The book rewards you if you give yourself over to it. And if you’re lucky, you’ll meet people to talk about it with in the process.
The DFW x IJ Tattoo
After my first read and for the occasion of my 28th birthday (and what would’ve been DFW’s 50th birthday), I knew I wanted the chapter header symbol from DFW’s Infinite Jest on my left wrist (coverable!) for well over a year.
“It is about being in the moment and paying attention to the things that matter…” [The New Yorker piece on DFW]
As a bonus, there are 28 of these symbols (shaded white circle) in IJ and I turn 28 this year. I’d seen other DFW/IJ tats, but never this image. And that makes me even more happy with it.
There were a few true fans in the crowd—one person had a tattoo of the novel’s circular section dividers on his wrist.. [The Paris Review]
How to Read Infinite Jest
Everyone in a cult wants others to join them. Perhaps you’ve met someone that has just run a marathon and they’re saying you should run one too. Reading Infinite Jest is a marathon for sure, but your nipples won’t be bleeding when you cross the finish line. Do it.
Buy the book. I highly suggest you start with the paperback, but buy an ebook as backup so you never have an excuse not to be reading. Get two bookmarks (one is to save your place and one is for the endnotes). And commit to a schedule, whether that’s 10 pages a day, 75 a week, or 100 a month. Then find someone else crazy enough to do it with you.
Finally, lean on the resources available. You’re not alone (trust me, the entire book is a mediation on loneliness and you’ll want help). Start reading. Don’t stop. And promise you’ll make it to page 223.
I cannot recommend bookmarking this Infinite Summer index of links, posts, and schedule enough. This resource by itself can be enough to make reading the book a full experience.
Then I could copy and paste the many valuable references, links, and support media available at The Howling Fantods, but I’ll simply just link to the main page there. Everything you could hope for and more, you’ll find here.
I would be remiss not to mention the famous Wallace list-serve email community. I found it not long after my first read of Infinite Jest and subscribed immediately. Through this email list I’ve met people in NYC, attended events, found and bought books, read amazing articles, learned about conferences, and in general the people that found each other through DFW end up sharing so much more than that. Join us.
Jason Kottke was one of the best and most active bloggers during the original Infinite Summer and has tagged all of his posts here. Consider him another voice in your head. Here are words (along with their definitions, usage/context, and citation) you’ll learn by reading DFW.
There’s an entire scene-by-scene guide on this webpage that can help you remember what you’ve read.
If that’s not enough for you, here’s a reordered chronological timeline of everything in the novel. Wait until you’ve finished the book for this one to avoid spoiling the experience as DFW intended.
This is the most beautiful and interactive data visualizations project spurred by the book and well worth any superfan’s time.
Bookworm has this April 1996 interview with DFW, as well as many others following his other publications that I loved.
Each anniversary edition of Infinite Jest has a very special foreword. This is the latest, by Michelle Zauner (Crying in H-Mart author and artist behind Japanese Breakfast), but I loved the 20th anniversary’s foreword by Tom Bissell the most. Harder to find online is the first foreword by Dave Eggers, but it’s here in this (full!) book scan and also worth your time.
The New Yorker did a 30th Anniversary piece with a great deal of cultural context I enjoyed. If you like D.T. Max’s 2009 piece centered on DFW’s unfinished work, you’ll absolutely love his full biography of DFW which puts every published piece in context of his life.
When DFW passed, McSweeneys published a collection of memories for many in the community that always makes me sad when I revisit it, but is comforting in its own way and I’m glad exists.
And then there’s a bounty of DFW interviews, profiles, reviews, documentaries, and biographies awaiting you, as well as his entire body of work. Keep reading. Let me know which is your favorite. Then find a new favorite and tell me about that one.
I wish you way more than luck.
