And but so
Infinite Jest:
the reading club
13 Weeks. One Big Book.
Thinking about your relationship to social media? Exhausted by the algorithm? Want to spend deep time inside of something truly spectacular?
Join Congress Coffee’s Johanna Schwartz in a read of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.
Ignore the haters and the memes. This is the real deal, like nothing else: A dark, sad, funny, confusing, soaring novel about tennis, addiction, family trauma and the pursuit of happiness set in a near future we have long since passed.
The Discussion
Week Eight
Week EightBefore we get into the horror that is Randy Lenz, we meet up with Roy Tony once more, wait out the repercussions of Eschaton in the HrH’s very blue waiting room, the morning sun is about to rise on Marathe and Steeply, Pemulis has some very important info...
Week Seven
Week SevenEach week while I prep for this recap, I grab the pages I’ve just read between my fingers and am always amazed at what a small sliver of the book the week’s reading represented, and within that 1/4 – 1/2 inch of paper how many stories were covered. This...
Week Six
Week SixIn this week’s pages we attend a dark and brutal AA meeting, learn about the birth of O.N.A.N through Mario’s Interdependence Day film screening, follow the growth of Inter-Lace, and talk pea soup with Marathe and Steeply.Recap We go out to a White Flag AA...
Week Five
Week FiveWherein we traverse 47 endnotes (!), get some perspective on Orin and JvD’s relationship, shudder in a bathroom stall with Poor Tony Krause, brush up on our Quebecois separatist history, understand the extent of Mario’s disfigurements, check in with Marathe...
Week Four
Week FourRecap DMZ is seriously dangerous stuff, but with bellbottoms!Pemulis has secured a fairly large amount of DMZ, in tablet form, from Antitoi Entertainment, run by a couple of Nucks (*any Canadians consider that a slur? I know I don’t). Pemulis is (thankfully)...
Week Three
Week ThreeI read this section so quickly, as it just filled me with absolute glee. A few of my favourite bits are in this week's reading and the pace is fast and furious. We are also intoduced to Wallace's increasingly-agitated use of ALLCAPS HEADLINES to really add...
Week Two
Week TwoMore than a few people I have spoken to put IJ down around 100 pages in. So we have just passed a common attrition mark. Congratulations! And ya know, it makes some sense - there's a lot going on. We have our first giant endnote (the filmography, and...
Week One
Week OneWelcome to the beginning of our Infinite Jest reading club, and the first of thirteen blog posts dedicated to recaps. reflections, and reactions to what we've just read: amanuensis festschrift scopophilical These words are all such delicious morsels. Wallace...
The Reading Schedule
Dates refer to the start date of each week’s reading.
Page numbers work for all edtions of the print version of Infinite Jest.
Location data refers to the Kindle version.
Week One
January 4
Meeting date Sun Jan 11
Pages 3 – 63 (Endnotes 1-22)
Location 1522 (6%)
Week Two
January 11
Meeting date Mon Jan 19
Pages 63-137 (Endnotes 23-48)
Location 3236 (13%)
Week Three
January 18
Meeting date Sun Jan 25
Pages 137-211 (Endnotes 49-72)
Location 4844 (21%)
Week Four
January 25
Meeting date Mon Feb 2
Pages 211-283 (Endotes 73-92)
Location 6545 (28%)
Week Five
February 1
Meeting date Sunday Feb 8
Pages 283-342 (Endnotes 93-140)
Location 8174 (36%)
Week Six
February 8
Meeting date Monday Feb 16
Pages 343-430 (endnotes 141-174)
Location 9832 (44%)
Week Seven
February 15
Meeting date Sun Feb 22
Pages 430-503 (Endnotes 175-208)
Location 11510 (51%)
Week Eight
February 22
Meeting date Mon March 2
Pages 503-580 (Endnotes 209-240)
Location 13233 (59%)
Week Nine
March 1
Meeting date Sun March 8
Pages 580-651 (Endnotes 241-265)
Location 14900 (66%)
Week Ten
March 8
Meeting date Mon March 16
Pages 651-728 (Endnotes 266-302)
Location 16554 (74%)
Week Eleven
March 15
Meeting date Sun March 22
Pages 728-795 (Endnotes 303-332)
Location 18315 (81%)
Week Twelve
March 22
Meeting date Mon March 30
Pages 795-876 (Endnotes 333-353)
Location 19772 (89%)
The End
March 29
Meeting date Wednesday April 8
Pages 877-981 (Endnotes 333-388)
Location 22403 (100%)
Meet your host.
Johanna Schwartz
Hi everyone!
I bought Infinite Jest at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco in 2007, because it was $10 and had a lot of pages. When I finished the book, I flipped back to page 1 and started all over again.
In 2014 I launched infinitejestyyc.com as a reading group, inspired by Matt Bucher of Infinite Summer. I have now read it 9 or 10 times (I’ve lost count), and I have contributed essays to an online project called Sacred Jest (2017) and guest hosted another Infinite Jest Book Club during the height of COVID (2021).
It is the book I go to when the world seems overwhelming, and it always seems overwhelming these days. I hope this project gives you space and time to dig into a work of art larger than yourself.
I encourage first time readers, re-readers, “never got past the first 200 pages” readers, to join me on this journey!
We will have in-person meetings for those whose location and schedules allow, but there will also be online posts where I will kickstart the conversation and open the floor to comments and questions. Anyone from anywhere can join in.
When not reading IJ or the ridiculous stack of books on my bedside table, I run Congress Coffee, a hyper-local independent coffee house and live music venue in Calgary. We will have our 3rd anniversary in February of 2026!
I openly cry with joy whenever I watch The Decemberists’ Calamity Song video and have two Infinite Jest tattoos.
Weekly reading.
Weekly discussions.
