\nOn Twitter it seems like the backlash against the backlash against Infinite Jest has begun, so I guess I can dig it out of my closet and put it back on my bookshelf before it\u2019s time to start dating again.
books disappearing from Zoom backgrounds like that dude next to Stalin
Honestly I\u2019ve always been fascinated by the lack of hate towards that book it\u2019s kinda the peak of insufferable white guy \u201cpost-modernism\u201d or whatever. Idk when people mention that as their favorite book I am a little suspicious of their taste in general
It’s sure got a reputation, but it’s better than you’d think. We had an insufferable-lit-bro friend in college under whose influence we all read it, to call back to that “insufferable music hipsters are key to getting things heard” post going around the other day
I feel like Infinite Jest sits in that sweet spot where it’s just long enough that if you’ve read far enough through to have an opinion on whether or not it’s good you have to admit you at least kinda enjoyed reading it. Like it’s hard to conjure up any specific hate for a book if you gave up less than 100 pages in because you didn’t understand what was going on. At that point you’re just hating on post-modernism generally, and there are so many easier targets for that.
It’s also a weird favorite though, I don’t think those people read it. Like for whom is the 800 page autofiction novel by a rich private school kid on addiction, depression, and suicide a *favorite* book? Was it the tennis? Giggle every time the word Dilaudid appeared on the page? I don’t understand those people, i think they just have the opinions they think they’re supposed to to make people like them.
Also, like, it was the Eschaton scene. C'mon.
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