Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

**This review will contain (minor) spoilers. It is designed as a resource for potential readers who fear Infinite Jest is plotless.** David Foster Wallace's magnum opus is definitely one of the most polarizing popular novels in recent memory. It is rare to find a reader who is lukewarm about this book -- one tends to either love it or loathe it enormously. The main problem the loathers seem to have with IJ is that, to them, there is either no plot or the plot is too hard to follow. I disagree as it actually has a very tightly constructed narrative that opens with a series of vignettes that orient the reader to the universe (in dystopias I believe this is called "universe"-or-"world building") through the perspective of various characters, some more consequential than others. The seemingly scattered opening does not, however, mean that Infinite Jest is another one of those somewhat plotless postmodern academic tomes... the category that "Gravity's Rainbow" or "The Recognitions" could fit into, which is not a knock on those works. On the contrary IJ contains a wonderful (and obviously allegorical) narrative that carries the reader through a not so distant North America completely consumed by its relentless desire to entertain itself... and corporations' eagerness to provide avenues to fulfill those desires. Yes, this is an idea-heavy novel with many strong philosophical, technical, intellectual, and meditative passages -- many of which are dazzlingly well written, such as the AA meetings, Hal's depression battle, the nature of celebrity envy, etc. etc. -- but they are woven into a fun and tragic plot that with a little trust and patience with the author are not hard to follow. If you are thinking about buying and reading this novel, don't be afraid you won't be able to "get it"... that's so overblown by its reputation as a classic literary masterpiece... ironically a label Wallace himself hated because it changes how readers approach books. Here's a loose outline of the plot, in the order it's presented narratologically. -- 17 y/o tennis star and lexical genius Hal Incandenza (Protagonist A) has a nervous breakdown during a college interview at Arizona. This is in first person and is the "last" event in the book's chronology. -- Switch to third person and back to an earlier times. The years can be tricky because they're named after corporate products rather than numbered. There is a reference key early on. Other characters are introduced, including a white collar pot addict (who doesn't return till far later), Hal's older brothers Orin and Mario and their mother Avril, an unnamed black girl from Boston, Hal's late-father James, and Hal's friends and tennis teammates from his athletic boarding school, Enfield Tennis Academy in Massachusetts. Certain chapters are entirely dialogue or entirely inside the mind and voice of a character. Others are more conventionally narrated in Wallace's patented tragicomic style. -- Oral narcotics addict Don Gatley (protagonist B) is introduced. He is at rock bottom and kills a man on accident who turns out to be a Canadian terrorist leader stationed in Brookline. -- We learn more about ETA. Hal's father James founded it and his mother and uncle now run it together. -- Remy Marathe and Hugh/Helen Steeply are introduced. They are secret agents on opposing sides (Canada/US) in a convoluted triple-cross, ultimately trying to locate "Infinite Jest" (aka The Entertainment), a film cartridge so entertaining that one cannot stop watching it and dies. Quebecois assassins want it as a weapon. Hal's dad was the filmmaker, and he wanted to be buried with the master copy after his suicide. Many of the details surrounding the film itself, including how it leaked, are open to speculation. The search for this film is what winds the two narrative halves together... even if they don't meet exactly in the text itself. :) -- We learn about Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House [sic], just across the street from ETA, where Don is now a live in staffer and on 400-something days of full sobriety. Many characters are introduced here. -- We meet Joelle (aka Madam Psychosis), a radio host who tries killing herself with a crack OD. She ends up at Ennet House. -- Now that the new world (its technologies, its politics, its culture, its characters from the 3 main settings) have been introduced, the narrative motion takes a backseat to Wallace's at times indulgent but always brilliant and entertaining scenes in which the characters really come alive and interact. We get some great tennis writing as well as the best addiction/sobriety writing in modern fiction. -- The plot picks back up after a major catalyst event I won't spoil here. But the chances are if you made it through all the foregoing anchor points (which only scratch the surface and are strictly to prove the point that this novel is well plotted), there's a good chance you're not putting IJ down till the end.