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Infinite Jest! That's entertainment! Infinite Summer begins today!


That’s entertainment: Infinite Summer begins today!

This blog was started almost a year ago to train my brain to regularly post for Delmarva Quarterly, an arts & humanities magazine (that’s going glossy) for which I freelance regularly for, and though DMQ hasn’t started the blog sites yet, still in the works, and I’m cool with that, though I feel posting anxiety for not regularly updating this blog as I promised.

So to posting I go…on Father’s Day, between playing the dragon game with Thor and making cheese sandwiches….

For those uninitiated who have not tested David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. The challenge begins today, and so far there are an impressive number of creative projects occurring as readers tackle the challenge. There are some famous readers, including the Decemberists Colin Meloy, and others. Some readers are making FLICKR boards, plus the usual discussion boards and other literary discussion detritus.

I’ve read IJ twice, and more than any other book, the images and words are slam fixed in my brain. It’s gothic, it’s funny, it’s challenging, it’s satirical, it’s wonderful, it’s grotesque. And the work itself is a testament to the American Imagination. Where else can pot smokers, alcoholics, socio-paths, independent film, pro sports, wheelchair assassins, drug rehab counselors, drug addicted transvestites, child prodigies, and entertainment so good it will kill you, come together to marvel, question, and enlighten. It is entertainment.

You can visit the site here.

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