Pages

About

Definitive Jest is a vocabulary-building and SNOOT-approved word-of-the-day blog centered around David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.*

Infinite Jest is, in my mind, a nearly-incomparable novel.  It is rich and dense, and also challenging.  The determined reader is well-rewarded for her/his efforts.  Plot-structure complications aside, one of the difficulties is the work's extremely erudite vocabulary.

As I re-read Infinite Jest, I've noted interesting or unusual words.  These words form the content of Definitive Jest.

Reader suggestions, comments, or feedback on any content or features are greatly appreciated.

Jarett Myskiw

*Also: apparently an over-hyphenated blog.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous24 January 2012 at 19:42

    so glad you are doing this. it has been on my mind as i read infinite jest for the first time. i spend as much time looking words up and reading the appendix as i do the text. it is definitely going to several readings before i have a sense of things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jarett Myskiw24 January 2012 at 21:39

      You're welcome and I'm glad you're finding the project useful!

      I found Infinite Jest really opened up after I'd pushed through the first couple hundred pages and got a sense of the characters and connections. It is definitely a different read the second time, though, and I'm loving it just as much.

      Delete
  2. jdtrinkle17 April 2012 at 22:02

    Great idea. I decided to look up each term I came across that I was unfamiliar with this time through. Voila--this popped up. Awesome work.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous15 July 2012 at 17:17

    Thanks for validating my recent use of the word "thanatopic" -- Dr. Pablito

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mary Craig14 November 2012 at 03:05

    Jarett, thanks for the blog. I've just linked to your blog from my own (http://chapterthis.blogspot.com), where I've posted about my recently completed journey through Infinite Jest. Compliments on your idea and your entries.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown12 November 2016 at 14:12

    on p. 547, Randy Lenz thinks killing Pat's dogs "would be tattlemount to legal suicide"

    "tattlemount"--is this just his malapropism for "tantamount," or..?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4 December 2016 at 16:21

      Never mind--I see it's just part of his character! (p. 717 "amonymous streets")

      Delete
  6. Anonymous3 August 2023 at 19:27

    I wish I could get a word a day emailed to me from this! Huge fan

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous16 November 2024 at 12:32

    Hello! Just stumbled into this as I read IJ for the first time. Very cool resource, thank you!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)