Infinite Summer is Coming!
I just finished Ulysses and am feeling v pleased w/self. Infinite Jest should be a walk in the park! Here’s the schedule for the Infinite Summer 2015 readalong, which starts around the summer solstice and finishes around the autumn equinox. It’s copied largely verbatim from the kind folks who did the original Infinite Summer in 2009, when I read IJ the first time. I highly recommend the group read, which is why I’m leading it here. I’m based in the Twin Cities, and many of the people who claim they’ll read along are here, too, but anyone can join in, either here on the blog in the comments or on Twitter, where we’ll be blogging at #TCInfiniteSummer.
Infinite Summer 2015 syllabus.
Date Page Percent Complete
Tue, Jun 23 63 6%
Tue, Jun 30 94 9%
Tue, Jul 07 168 17%
Tue, Jul 14 242 24%
Tue, Jul 21 316 32%
Tue, Jul 28 390 39%
Tue, Aug 04 464 47%
Tue, Aug 11 537 54%
Tue, Aug 18 611 62%
Tue, Aug 25 685 69%
Tue, Sep 01 759 77%
Tue, Sep 08 833 84%
Tue, Sep 15 907 92%
Tue, Sep 22 981 100%
At the end of each specified day, you should be at or past the given page number or location. The schedule denotes the Spoiler Line for any given day. For instance, on July 7th please confine your discussion to only those events that transpire on page 168 of the novel and earlier. The Spoiler Line will hold both on the posts here and on Twitter at #TCInfiniteSummer. If you find yourself ahead of the pack and eager to chat with like-minded overachievers, or if you’re already read Infinite Jest and wish to talk about the novel in its entirety, please do so privately.
A note about the endnotes: The above schedule does not take the endnotes into account. And as some endnotes are long (like, 14 pages worth of long), that means the actual amount of weekly reading will vary. But, you know, it’s like agreeing to always divide the check up evenly when dining with friends: you may have to chip in a bit more occasionally, but it’s better than haggling over the math.
A note about editions: As it turns out, all (physical) edition of Infinite Jest have 981 pages: the one from 1996, the one from 2004, the paperback, the hardcover, etc. A big thank you to the men and women in the publishing industry who were kind and/or lazy enough to keep things consistent.
May 31st, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Been feeling a bit lost when it comes to voice in writing myself, which usually means it’s time to go back to Wallace. I may just have to participate in this. Will we have a field trip to see “The End of the Tour” when it comes out?
May 31st, 2015 at 1:29 pm
Only if End of the Tour gets good reviews. I should probably read that Lipsky book finally.
June 2nd, 2015 at 5:34 pm
Finally. I found someone else besides the infinitesummer.org crew that is using social media during Infinite Summer 2015. Excited to find you. My wife and I are both reading - her first reading, my second attempt at completiom (something called a dissertation got in the way last time). Going to try to stick to schedule. We have a little tumblr going as we progress at infinitereno.tumblr.com. I’ll link you. Looking forward to reading your thoughts on this journey. Be well.