What’s your favorite, least favorite or just least favorite character in Infinite Jest?
Favorite character: Donald Gately AKA Big Indestructible Moron AKA Bimmy. I assume everyone agrees, no need to elaborate.
Least favorite character: I can't stand Mario Incandenza. He sucks, his chapters are uncomfortable and it's insulting that he's supposed to be an analogue of my favorite character from another book, which I feel he is a poor facsimile for.
Just least favorite character: Uh, I'm going to use this opportunity to talk about how David Foster Wallace spent an entire book slowly killing a Near Eastern Medical Attaché? I mean the most transparent explanation is that he's a spy for the Saudi government, and he was clearly sleeping with Avril, so the wraith of James Incandenza is getting revenge, but why draw his death out over half the book unless the author is also getting revenge somehow? I know the work is highly autofictional, was that part something Wallace had personal experience with? Were the Saudis involved in the October Crisis? Very strange regardless, an unexplained mystery in such an otherwise highly normal and strictly conventional postmodern bildunsgroman.









