Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide
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This engaging summary presents an analysis of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, a vast, sweeping novel which takes in a tennis academy for gifted young players, a halfway house for recovering addicts and an “entertainment” rumoured to be so compelling that it will kill whoever watches it. The novel’s scope, humour and complexity mean that it is widely recognised as the author’s masterpiece and as one of the greatest novels of recent years. David Foster Wallace was an American writer, and is one of the most influential authors of recent years. Besides Infinite Jest, he is also known for the short story collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and the essay collections A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again and Consider the Lobster.
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• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection
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Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (Book Analysis) - Bright Summaries
AMERICAN WRITER
Born in Ithaca, New York (USA) in 1962.
Died in Claremont, California (USA) in 2008.
Notable works:
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (1999), short story collection
Consider the Lobster (2005), essay collection
The Pale King (2011), unfinished novel
David Foster Wallace was a complex writer in terms of both his story-telling and the subjects and themes he explored. His work has influenced numerous contemporary writers and he is highly regarded for his work across the novel, short story and essay mediums. His work deals with diverse themes, including depression and mental illness, addiction, sport, entertainment and politics. His idiosyncratic writing style and expansive vocabulary make his fiction among the most instantly recognisable in modern literature. Educated to a high level, Wallace published his first novel while still at college.
His works are often intimidating in their length and the detail Wallace gives the reader, but they are as funny as they are insightful. Indeed, one of the key characteristics of Wallace’s writing was its ability to find humour in very dark situations. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (commonly known as the MacArthur Genius Grant) and was a regionally recognised junior tennis player. This diverse biography reveals the wide sources from which Wallace found inspiration for his fiction. After suffering for most of his adult life with mental health problems,