Infinite Zest
Infinite Jest (1996)
By David Foster Wallace
A Ten Commandments-size cast populates this rule-breaking modern classic, infamous for sprawling prose, endless footnotes,<sup>1</sup> and a madcap depiction of the future.<sup>2</sup> Confounding and delightful in equal measure, Jest takes place in the 'burbs of Boston,<sup>3</sup> between a halfway house and a nearby tennis academy. Wallace had one of his central characters take his own life, and in a tragic true-life twist, Wallace did the same, leaving behind a magnum opus that will be argued and digested for infinity. Serve up a tennis-ball-yellow cocktail that mimics the zest and bounce of one fallen literary legend.
<sup>1</sup>Just like this, but they appeared at the end of the book—over four hundred of 'em!
<sup>2</sup>Time is marked with corporate sponsorships, as in the Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken.
<sup>3</sup>Wallace briefly studied philosophy at Harvard (who hasn't?) and later taught at Emerson.
