• Infinite Jest: Part I With a Foreword by Dave Eggers

  • By: David Foster Wallace
  • Narrated by: Sean Pratt
  • Length: 28 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (143 ratings)

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Infinite Jest: Part I With a Foreword by Dave Eggers  By  cover art

Infinite Jest: Part I With a Foreword by Dave Eggers

By: David Foster Wallace
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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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.

©1996 David Foster Wallace (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Pratt is a startlingly good narrator, dry and expressive, with the kind of vocal control that evokes dozens of characters with only slight but very distinctive variations of accent and affect.... Pratt hears the humor in Wallace's work, and lets you in on the joke without resorting to overheated wackiness. His control and stamina are impressive." (John Schwartz, The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about Infinite Jest: Part I With a Foreword by Dave Eggers

Average customer ratings
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Doesn't include the footnotes!?

This is an amazing book, the low rating isn't for the book itself but for the audio book. It first says how important the footnotes are to the story then says they won't be including them in the recording? Saying that they will call out the number of the footnote so you can follow along with a paper copy???

I bought this to re experience a book I loved and didn't have the time to sit down and read the paper copy. What's the point of buying an audio book if you have to lug around a 1079 page book with you to follow along?

This is stupid. I've listened to other David Foster Wallace audiobooks and they included the footnotes just fine. What the f**k! I'm so angry. 

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39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The wrong format for this book

Any additional comments?

This is obviously a great work of American fiction, and I look forward to finishing it as a conventional tree-based tome. It's indecipherable as an audiobook.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I had to buy the book

I couldn't take it on audio. Too complex and challenging for dog walking. Better by the fire.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

smart enough to observe / too timid to participate

my youngest child, an undergraduate, takes english classes
wallace's "infinite jest" and joyce's "ulysses" were assigned and compared
i downloaded "infinite jest" in hopes it'd give us something to talk about

the book was published feb.1996 / sadly, mr. wallace hung himself 9.12.08
some have read "infinite jest" as a insightful commentary on modern america
others could see it as a very long, somewhat academic suicide note

wallace's childhood and early adult life gave him experience in 3 main areas
1) elite junior tennis 2) academic in-fighting 3) drug use and rehabilitation
he then plows these 3 fields for insights about the state and fate of our world

suicide, familial dissociative disorders and psychic pain are mentioned often
wallace believes his own mental anguish is beyond other's "simple anhedonia"
his symptoms remain stubbornly resistant to modern pharmacological therapy

the book's tone is privileged, precocious, a bit timid and somewhat remote
wallace wants to comment on life, while at the same time keeping life at arm's length
he's the observer of the spectacle rather than a sweaty participant in the struggle

wallace's intense intellect, energy and talent for language are certainly admirable
but by the end of "infinite jest", part of me just couldn't wait for it to be over
sadly, mr. david foster wallace may have come to that very same conclusion




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15 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Must listen :)

Brilliant story and narration.

The footnotes are necessary at times and amusing at others.

I read this book before I listened.

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8 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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I am writing my grocery list in my head

I want to like this. I really do. I just can’t get past the droning cadence of it to find the story. Can’t bring myself to go on with it. Im done.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Narrator brilliant

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend it to people who have a sense of humor and enjoy high brow lit. Eggers provides a great intro and the narrator, Sean Pratt, could not have done a better job.

What did you like best about this story?

The story.

Which character – as performed by Sean Pratt – was your favorite?

Not one character in this multi-character book was lazily done.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Nope.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book and a great narrator

I’m on my 3rd time through IJ. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and this one is top notch. IJ is one of the best modern books and I feel like the narrator captures the tone of the book exceptionally.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wish the French pronunciation was better

The French pronunciation and the Quebecois accent are so poor that they distributing to anyone who knows some French. Otherwise, excellent narration.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So good!

Such a dense book that I found both reading and listening necessary to really take it in. Highly recommended.

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