reading this book represents a lot for me. not to put pressure on myself, but completing it will be a dismissal of all my worst fears about myself (i.e. that i’m intimidated by greatness, that i cannot commit to anyone/thing without totally freaking out, that my trepidation regarding my ability to trust my instincts is not to be trusted….and so on.) there’s, i suppose, a good reason why i’ve felt the need to build this up in my brain. creating pressure is sometimes the only way in which i can perform at the things that aren’t a huge deal, but that are important to me. me caring about them usually isn’t enough.

that being said, let’s talk about the book. i’m starting infinite jest on july 4, 2009. i expect will be finished with it BEFORE i leave for gainesville on august 12th. i must confess, i originally had every intention to read this book while, shall we say, intoxicated. but i’ve given up all sorts of, uh, “intoxicatory” substances for a little while. so instead, i’ll just focus on reading the book, and save that particular challenge for another time.

this is my first ever exposure to david foster wallace, and i’m excited. this particular novel has been über-hyped, but i sort of expect it to be worth it. to make sure of this, i’m following some useful tips over at the infinite summer website, including keeping track of things by using the index they link to (here’s a link to the .pdf, in case the page moves), obsessive bookmarking and employing a highlighter, pencil, pen and notebook for each and every time i sit down to read this sucker. bring it on, DFW (RIP). bring it on.