What is the book 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace about?

Answer 1

Well. That's a bit like asking to compact the OED (!) or the Torah into a few choice words. Anywho, if you want a brief synopsis and/or general outline, I can provide such.

Non-Spoiler OutlineThe story mainly revolves around two major protagonists and a the occasional deuteragonist/tritagonist thread. The major protags. are Hal Incandenza, a student at ETA (Enfield Tennis Academy) and Don Gately, a member of the Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House (sic.). It also follows the deuter/trit action of Remy Marathe, a Canadian Terrorist and Helen/Hugh Steepley, a gender switched "guy" as the agent of the ONAN partnership.

Sigh. Okay, before you freak out on my capricious review that reeks of esotericism at the moment, a clarification. In the early 2000's Canada, Mexico, and the US of A formed together, under the general dominance of the USA. This treaty/nation/thing is called the Orginization of North American Nations (i.e. ONAN (hehe )). This delegates the current American President to be the quasiCzar of the bunch leaving Canada and Mexico as subOfficiates or whatnot.

Clarification 2. At the rise of InterLace Entertainment, all Cable companies folded (due to some faux pas advertising) whereas the Big Four merged into the aforementioned InterLace. Because of Interlace's selective viewing options, commercials went null. This prompted a scramble of advertising. Now ads are on athletes, billboards, magazine consist mainly entirely of them, and oh yeah, each year is designated to a "sponsor" company who gets the year as their own slogan/product....such as "Year of The Purdue Wonderchicken" or "Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment".....did I mention that the government sold it because they were in financial trouble. What marketing whizzes, eh?

Clarification 3. To get rid of waste the American portion of ONAN decided to throw their waste, toxic and nonhazmat, into the northeastern states. Yep. So the entire Northeast is a toxic wasteland rumored to contain feral hamsters and mutated colossuses of infants. They "ceded" (really they forced) this territory to Canada, namely the province of Quebec. This incited a singular terrorist group, AFR, a band of marauding men on wheelchairs, to acts of terrorism. These figures play a LARGE roll in IF.

Clarification 4. Infinite Jest. A film cartridge so entertaining it will kill you. Literally. Made by James O. Incandenza.The Office of Unspecified Services seeks to vitiate the threat and the AFR seeks to use it in its machinations.

So.

Hal Incandenza and Don Gately both live in Maryland....not even 20 miles from one another. Hal is a student at ETA, who lives to smoke marijuana and play tennis. He also is the son of the aforementioned James O. Incandenza. He is the brother of Orin Incandenza and the brother of Mario Incandenza, a homodontic and disfigured teen. He has memorized the OED and not surprisingly, since he is the son of the uberliterate Avril Incandenza. That is one thread of the major story.

Don Gately is a recovering drug addict and burglar. He is (at the crux of the story) living at the Ennet House, an AA and NA hangout for just about every druggie on the face of the known Earth. He struggles with life in general and also has recurring flashbacks.

Remy Marathe is a double double agent (an agent pretending to be a double agent) or a double double double double agent...something like that. He supplies information from the nefarious AFR to Hugh Steeply, a transgender agent for the Office of Unspecified Services (a conglomeration of all the CIA-like orgs. in the ONAN region). They meet vis-a-vis for a little while and that's ends up being a recurring element in the book.

I hope this supplies a general outline.

-B-Walliz

Answer 2

'Infinite Jest' is a complex novel that explores themes of addiction, entertainment, and the search for meaning. Set in a near-future dystopian society, the story weaves together multiple plotlines, including a tennis academy, a rehab center, and a deadly film called 'Infinite Jest' that is so entertaining that viewers lose the will to do anything else. It's a challenging and thought-provoking read that has garnered both critical acclaim and polarizing opinions.