Infinite Summer
Background
Infinite Summer was an online book club–style project started by writer Matthew Baldwin. Sponsored by The Morning News, participants were challenged to read and complete David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest at a rate of about 75 pages a week from June 21 to September 22, 2009.[1][2][3]
Baldwin and three other writers acted as "guides", providing commentary on the main Infinite Summer website. Participants in the project also contributed commentary over a variety of social networking services, including Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, where related posts were marked with the hashtag #infsum.
Baldwin said in interviews that the project was prompted in part by Wallace's death in September 2008.[4]
Notable participants in the project included Colin Meloy of The Decemberists,[5][6] Ezra Klein of The Washington Post,[7] and John Krasinski, who was about to release his film adaptation of Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.[8] Though he did not participate, John Hodgman described the project as "a noble and crazy enterprise."[9]
References
- ^ Nurwisah, Ron (June 22, 2009). "An interview with Infinite Summer creator Matthew Baldwin". The National Post. Retrieved August 3, 2009.[dead link ]
- ^ Gandert, Sean (June 8, 2009). "David Foster Wallace Remembered with Infinite Summer Reading Group". Paste Magazine. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- ^ "The Short List of Things to Do". Time magazine. June 12, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- ^ Silverman, Jacob (June 29, 2009). "The story behind Infinite Summer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- ^ Peltz, Jennifer (June 21, 2009). "Infinite Summer virtual book group leads a read of David Foster Wallace's lengthy best-seller 'Infinite Jest'". Associated Press. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- ^ Meloy, Colin (June 19, 2009). "Why I am Reading Infinite Jest". InfiniteSummer.org. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- ^ Klein, Ezra (June 3, 2009). "A Supposedly Fun Thing I Plan to Do This Summer". Washington Post. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- ^ Ducker, George (21 September 2009). "John Krasinski and David Foster Wallace's endless summer". LA Times Blogs - Jacket Copy. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "About". InfiniteSummer.org. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
External links