Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace1,079 pages (including endnotes)
published by Back Bay Books
My second reading is complete and...well, it's still amazing. The first reading, five years ago, was difficult, I'm not gonna lie. It took me a while to get through it the first time. That is not to say that it wasn't thoroughly enjoyable the first time around, it was just a bit bewildering at times. But this second reading was much quicker and utterly transfixing. As I read along, the layers of complexity kept revealing themselves and my prior confusion was replaced with a hazy clarity.
DFW has created in Infinite Jest something entirely unique and endlessly entertaining. It challenges me in ways I didn't think literature could and engages me with the language and story in ways I didn't think possible. I think I'll read it for a third time in another five years and see how it holds up. I suspect I won't be disappointed.
