The shocking suicide of post-modernist writer Wallace has readers rediscovering his 1996 opus, which rocketed into the top 20 on Amazon.com. “Jest” feels like it could have been written today, with its vision of a future where even months are sponsored by corporations and the population is kept sedate by drug-like entertainment. But it’s a little . . . well, infinite. For shorter, brilliant tastes of Wallace’s unique style – heavy on footnotes and amusing minutiae – visit harpers.org, where the magazine has posted a dozen of his articles, including “Shipping Out” (about life on a cruise ship) and “Tense Present” (about the battle over dictionaries – trust us, it’s great).

Infinite Jest

by David Foster Wallace

Back Bay Books