DFW Part I

OK, I've officially joined the cult. I've become one of those people who carries around a 5lb copy of Infinite Jest in their bag. I'm the whole way through the Dave Eggers intro! C'mon, I only got it yesterday. IJ is one of those weird things that you're completely unaware of until you catch a glimpse of it, and then it's everywhere. Friends have read it, are in love with it, don't know how they ever lived without it. Other friends have started it but "just can't do it." Websites dissect its deeper meaning. It's universally described as "work" but "worth it," (even in the Eggers intro).

So, a challenge, is it? The last 1,000+-page book I read was the unabridged version of Stephen King's The Stand that came out in the early 90's. I didn't even like King's fiction, but I was no wuss! Those people saying they couldn't get through it were clearly pussies, so I went out and borrowed a copy of the book. It took me 2 weeks to read it, working around my work schedule and pregnancy issues. Ha! Pussies.*

Anyway, I can't resist what I consider to be the literary equivalent of a triple-dog-dare. So here I am, carrying around this giant tome in my already-heavy bag.

When I was debating purchase (because friends and libraries should NOT entrust me with a copy of a book it's going to take me this long to read and expect it returned to them in anything resembling the condition I received it in), my friend Aaron sent me a link to David Foster Wallace's short stories so I could decide if it was worth the expense. I was sucked in within minutes, so off I trotted to buy the book. I'm totally looking forward to this slab of a book providing an enlightening, enriching, engrossing (en, en, en...) distraction for the duration of the long hot summer.

*I actually ended up really liking The Stand. Who knew?