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One of my favorite DFW observations was about how on his press tour following the release of Infinite Jest, he was doing readings two or so weeks after it had r

One of my favorite DFW observations was about how on his press tour following the release of Infinite Jest, he was doing readings two or so weeks after it had released. People were coming up to him and praising him, wanting a piece of him. He commented to.... Maybe David Lipsky I think? that it would have been nearly impossible for these fans to have read the book in its entirety, and that it made him super self-conscious that people liked the concept/marketing/fame of the book more than the writing itself. A friend of mine once joked that he wanted to seem like someone who has read Steinbeck's East of Eden, but didn't actually want to read it.

bitwize 8y ago
"A classic is something everybody wants to have read, but no one wants to read." --Mark Twain
everybodyknows 8y ago
Not abashed myself to admit giving up on Jest around the 1/3 point, and Eden at 1/4. Hemingway's strengths are high rhetoric, and European politics of the 30's. Wallace: deep journalism in essay form.
- PeanutNore 8y ago
  It was at almost exactly the halfway point (~page 548 of 1080) of Infinite Jest that the plot coalesced into something coherent that really made me want to keep going to find out what happens. Prior to that point, it was only the strength of the prose itself that kept me reading.
- rrdharan 8y ago
  I gave up on it at around the 1/3 point for 10+ years. Trying to read the paperback was a frustrating exercise when I was too OCD to ever skip a footnote. I went back to it on my Kindle and finally finished it a few years ago and am very glad I did, I really enjoyed it.
  - thatcat 8y ago
    That experience is purposeful, it creates a break between the narrative and meta-narrative voices. I didn't think it was too awful with 2 bookmarks - kinda reminded me of doing math hw, some of the one word ones like Sic., etc. did get tiresome though.
- leetcrew 8y ago
  i read all of east of eden, but i didn't find it to be as great as advertised. maybe i would have appreciated it more if i had been raised christian (or jewish).

bitwize 8y ago

"A classic is something everybody wants to have read, but no one wants to read." --Mark Twain

everybodyknows 8y ago

Not abashed myself to admit giving up on Jest around the 1/3 point, and Eden at 1/4. Hemingway's strengths are high rhetoric, and European politics of the 30's. Wallace: deep journalism in essay form.

PeanutNore 8y ago
It was at almost exactly the halfway point (~page 548 of 1080) of Infinite Jest that the plot coalesced into something coherent that really made me want to keep going to find out what happens. Prior to that point, it was only the strength of the prose itself that kept me reading.
rrdharan 8y ago
I gave up on it at around the 1/3 point for 10+ years. Trying to read the paperback was a frustrating exercise when I was too OCD to ever skip a footnote. I went back to it on my Kindle and finally finished it a few years ago and am very glad I did, I really enjoyed it.
- thatcat 8y ago
  That experience is purposeful, it creates a break between the narrative and meta-narrative voices. I didn't think it was too awful with 2 bookmarks - kinda reminded me of doing math hw, some of the one word ones like Sic., etc. did get tiresome though.
leetcrew 8y ago
i read all of east of eden, but i didn't find it to be as great as advertised. maybe i would have appreciated it more if i had been raised christian (or jewish).