Infinite Jest

By: David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 64 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America.

Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are.

Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human—and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do.

"The next step in fiction...Edgy, accurate, and darkly witty...Think Beckett, think Pynchon, think Gaddis. Think." —Sven Birkerts, The Atlantic

©2024 David Foster Wallace (P)2024 Little, Brown & Company

First word of every 12th sentence or so cuts out..

The missing audio (about a word) at the beginning of every 12 line or so, is distracting and requires you to use context clues to figure out what it was.

An Impressive Recording, All Things Considering — The Narrator Is Brilliant, Does Not Give One ‘The Fantods’

For first time readers/listeners, as well as those that are unfamiliar with D.F.W, do yourself a favour and read the book while you’re listening. Read a few hundred pages then listen to ten hours or so, and just keep on until you’re done with both. There is a common misconception that D.F.W is dense. He is not dense at all. He is wonderfully easy to read and understand. The predicament with Infinite Jest is its length, and for first time readers/listeners a lot will simply get missed because it’s such a significant amount of literature to digest. So read while you’re listening.

The voices Sean Pratt hear employees are well deployed and useful. There are so many characters,and each are lengthily-developed and more complex than the last. Listening to this work be performed so to speak allows one to paint stronger mental images about what is occurring, why it is occurring, and how each segment is connected to the next/last.

I am of the impression that there are two types of D.F.W. readers; those who are interested in being entertained and potentially generating some input on entertainment as well as addiction, and those who are attempting to decipher what Infinite Jest is “really all about.” I think moreover that both types are of course linked at least to a degree… This recording with Sean Pratt will help you determine just which type they are.

Moreover; being that this is as long of a work as it is, a few pointers: A) Look up words you don’t know… B) Don’t pause the recording in the middle of a footnote as you’ll get confused/lost when you un-pause… C) Abstain from reading/watching any critical analysis of this work before or while you’re reading; this will impede your ability to paint your own imagery and/or draw your own responses.

-Noah Balfour
Listened from the 1st of May, finished on June 19th — 2024; re-read the work throughout the month of May 2024

Achievement unloockef!

This work is as long as the Old Testament, and has about as much mystery surrounding it. Loosely based on "Hamlet," it's a story about a short piece of media (called a "cartridge") that is so entertaining that viewers cannot do anything else once exposed to it, causing death. This work had a long, rambling narrative that is almost impossible to decipher due to the many digressions, exhaustingly long cast of characters, and a plot that is extremely non-linear. Did I forget to mention the footnotes? This audiobook is a fantastic way to experience the work, as its narrator nails a dizzying array of accents, affects, and attitudes and the footnotes are conveniently delivered with a brief into and bell sound when concluded. The only criticism I have of this work is that it is so dense that it *will* escape your comprehension. Since it's author knows how to write in a more common, accessible style, as witnessed by his nonfiction work, one can only assume the inaccessibility is a feature, not a bug.

Genuinely the best literary experience

Great narration, masterpiece book, and they added the footnotes! This version is basically perfect, it makes reading IJ much easier.

With footnotes!

This version of the audiobooks includes the (excellent) footnotes in line with the rest of the text. In my opinion, this is the only way to listen to this book. Extraordinary book, superlative narrator.

An outstanding exploration of, well, everything

A slight overexaggeration aside, this book is perhaps the most interesting and thought provoking piece of media I've ever been lucky enough to learn of. Movies and shows and games and other books just can't stack up anymore after finishing it. The lasting impression this has left on me is one that is deep and complex and incomprehensible at times and yet, I feel like I grasp every sentence with the ease I wish I could grasp life itself. I still don't...get it, not all the way. It's begging to be reread and retread, studied and learned and decoded, to be spoken of in ways that can only betray the story itself's grandiosity. I feel like an idiot beyond the definition of the word but I also feel like I've learned something about myself that I wouldn't have otherwise understood if I hadn't listened to this. The narration only carries it further - an absolute masterclass in tone, delivery, and gravitas. I'm not ashamed to admit I don't know if I'll ever understand what David Foster Wallace could have possibly been conveying, not to the fullest extent the author himself would. Gone too soon, yet left the world with a tome so beautiful and horrific and chaotic and orderly that opposing terms as such can be the only way to truly describe it. This should be required reading to do just about anything. Please, an urge from one lost heart to billions of others, do yourself a favor and spend the time necessary to explore this mighty work. If you give yourself over to it, you will not regret it.

The narrator, an incredible voice and an incredible array of different voices

The story was too disjointed to be an audible book, but the beauty of the language and the depth of the knowledge came through.

Difficult, yet delightful!

A very difficult book to follow everything going on, yet filled with so many compelling story arcs and an abundance of humor, albeit sometimes dark. The narrator was excellent in every way really bringing the characters to life with unique voices for everyone.

The footnotes are added in with the story, and yes there is a dinging sound to let you know it’s the end of the footnote, which is definitely necessary (and not jarring at all if you’re trying to pay attention) for flow.

One of my favorite reads ever and I don’t know why, just the way the world was established and brought about all of these characters who are connected to the main story in ways, some indirectly.

Very well worth the read and wait! I wish there was a sequel, but that will never happen. RIP DFW.

The best way to enjoy this book

With how difficult it can be to go between endnotes and text this version of the audiobook is the best way to enjoy the book in my opinion. The notes are inline with the story and it keeps the pace of things up.

Overall it is still Wallace’s Opus and an incredible and strange story. It’s hard to grasp but it’s amazing and worth the effort to dig into.

Awesome book, but long

A few of the sections seemed like work due to length but this is a very rewarding read/listen.