Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest is a 1996 novel by David Foster Wallace. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semi-parodic future version of North America, and touches on tennis, substance addiction recovery programs, depression, child abuse, family relationships, advertising, popular entertainment, film theory, and Quebec separatism, among other topics. Wallace was 33 when the novel was published.

The novel includes 388 numbered endnotes (some of which have footnotes of their own) that explain or expound on points in the story. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Wallace characterized their use as a method of disrupting the linearity of the text while maintaining some sense of narrative cohesion. In 2005, Time magazine included the novel in its list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. It didn't find favor with all critics, however. Harold Bloom said about the novel, "You know, I don’t want to be offensive. But Infinite Jest is just awful. It seems ridiculous to have to say it. He can’t think, he can’t write. There’s no discernible talent."