Infinite Jest

What Infinite Jest is about

Infinite Jest is a sprawling, funny, dense novel about what we do to escape ourselves. Its stories are linked by a film, known as the Entertainment, so compelling that viewers lose interest in anything but watching it again. The film was the final work of James Incandenza, founder of the Enfield Tennis Academy, and everyone from government agents to a Quebecois radical group wants the master copy.

Around that thread, David Foster Wallace follows the students at the academy, especially Hal Incandenza, who struggles under high academic and athletic expectations. He also follows the residents of Ennet House, a recovery home, where addicts work through AA and NA one day at a time. Addiction, loneliness, family dysfunction and our hunger for amusement run through all of it, handled with satire and dark comedy.

The book is long and carries hundreds of endnotes, some with footnotes of their own, so it rewards patience. It sold more than a million copies worldwide and is often called Wallace's magnum opus. It is for readers who like ambitious, challenging fiction and will give it time.

Questions about Infinite Jest

When was Infinite Jest published?

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace was first published in 1996.

Was Infinite Jest one of the best books of 1996?

Infinite Jest is #7 on BookWard's Best Books of 1996, out of 38 1996 books that cleared our data bar. 388 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (28 ratings).

Why is Infinite Jest on the Best Books of 1996 list?

388 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (28 ratings).

More of the best books of 1996

• A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin, #1
• The Green Mile Stephen King, #2
• Forbidden Knowledge Roger Shattuck, #3
• Push Sapphire, #4
• Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk, #5
• Neverwhere Neil Gaiman, #6

See the full Best Books of 1996, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.