David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries) | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephen Burn
Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 16865
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5.3 x 0.4
ISBN: 082641477X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780826414779
ASIN: 082641477X
Publication Date: April 2003
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Product Description
The aim of this series is to provide accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to give a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. The books in the series all follow the same five-part structure: a short biography of the novelist; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received when it was first published; a summary of the novel's standing today, including any film or television adaptations; and a helpful list of discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and useful websites.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 A Window Into Weirdness June 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Infinite Jest is one of those once in a lifetime reads that was simultaneously painfully aggravating and indescribably delicious. It took so much effort and concentration to read certain parts that I could feel the sweat popping out on my brow. To make matters worse, I could only figure out portions of the book, even after a couple of reads.
This study guide goes a long way toward answering lots of questions I had about the story, the plot, the characters, and how they interrelated. This was such a big help to me that immediately after finishing the study guide I started reading Infinite Jest yet again, only this time a lot more of it clicked, and made it so much more enjoyable. I only wish the guide had revealed more, but I suppose there's something sort of magical about not being able to figure the whole book out. It would be lots of fun to have more of these guides for great works of fiction!
 Read this after Infinite Jest February 24, 2006
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is excellent for reviewing the overall meaning of infinite jest. It lays out a comprehensive chronology of every event, delves into several topics concerning David Foster Wallace and Infinite Jest, and, most importantly, is a good read. If you've made it through the 1000-some pages of Infinite Jest, add these 96 pages to the top and get a much-needed recap of this great book.
mostly [...] November 9, 2005
15 out of 22 found this review helpful
As a great fan of Infinite Jest, I picked up this book over a year ago. It is disappointing. Burn spends a lot of time picking on one or two hobbyhorses; more insightful interpretations have appeared elsewhere, in particular on the web in communities like wallace-l, and prior to Burn's (very slim) volume.
Burn also feels the need to rack up the wordometer with a very academicish approach to the subject that won't endear him to the readers who presumably come in already familiar with many of the issues that Burn rehashes at the level of a freshman seminar.
If you are curious and have the cash, by all means pick up a copy; I do, and I don't regret the purchase. But there are far more valuable sources of information and intepretation of Wallace's book out there online, and they are not hard to find.
An Illuminating Guide August 14, 2003
22 out of 26 found this review helpful
If Infinite Jest has become the Ulysses of the late twentieth century, then this excellent guide is the equivalent of Stuart Gilbert's companion to Joyce's masterpiece: Burn offers a lucid unravelling of some of the more mysterious aspects of Wallace's book (what exactly is up with Hal, where the mastercopy of the film is at a given time), but he also demonstrates fascinating parallels with books like The Golden Bough that I'd never thought of. It's also mercifully free of the kind of esoteric literary theory that spoils so many literary studies - refreshingly Burn prefers to situate the novel alongside the work of writers like Jonathan Franzen, and William Gaddis.The book is short (you sometimes get the feeling that Burns wants to say more but doesn't have space) but within those limitations this is a fine study of a terrific novel - highly recommended.
Brilliant, humble analysis July 1, 2003
38 out of 38 found this review helpful
I've been a fan of IJ since reading it in the summer of '96, but I've never read such a lucid and thoughtful analysis as this book provides. Burns has put enormous effort into analyzing Wallace's writing style, and avoids the simple analysis that Wallace is concsiously trying to undermine. Even though there are many subjects in the book that I would love Burns' opinion on, he is forthcoming about the limitations of the 'readers' guide' format, and has chosen his few topics for detailed analysis with care and skill. I especially liked his understanding and analysis of IJ's literary context: rather than simplistically comparing Wallace's work to Pynchon or DeLillo, as many have done, he explores the richer tradition of myth materials and 20th-century literature that informs Wallace's brilliant novel. My only criticism is Burns' failure to comment on Wallace's sense of humor, which was one of the reasons I loved IJ so much, and why I find it worth re-reading from time to time. I've enjoyed other writers endorsed by Wallace, like Irvine Welsh and Dave Eggers, but some literary analysis of Wallace's effective use of different varieties of humor would have been helpful. Still, given the lucid and concise analysis Burns provides, this criticism should be understood as part of my wishlist, not any negative take on Burns' sense of humor.
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