Should I purchase Infinite Jest now or wait for the new edition?

November 14, 2006 9:54 AM

Is it worth waiting for the new edition of David Foster Wallace's 'Infinite Jest' to come out in the UK?

I've been recommended it by a number of people, and just noticed on Kottke that a new edition is out in the States. Is there any reason to wait, or should I get the old edition now? I can't find anywhere in the UK selling the new edition yet...

posted by takeyourmedicine to sports, hobbies, & recreation (12 comments total)

Personally, I'd avoid either version, which I suppose is a vote for buy the cheapest used copy you can buy. That way you don't feel guilty about not finishing it.
posted by togdon at 10:11 AM on November 14, 2006

The US and UK publishers are completely different, and the fact that a new US version is out has no bearing whatsoever on the UK.

Even if there is a new UK version coming out, the only difference will be format. Kottke says the new US version is thinner than the previous, which means some combination of 1. smaller text and 2. thinner paper. I'd get the one already out if given the choice.
posted by The Michael The at 10:12 AM on November 14, 2006

Agreed that if the type is going to get smaller, you should get the current edition (ie the slightly larger type).

Do get it and read it. It takes patience, you have to be willing to put up with pretentious "look at me, aren't I clever" stuff along the way, but it really is an excellent book. Commit to read at least the first 100 pages before quitting. There are a ton of characters so it takes a long time of introducing one after another before anything resembling a story starts to roll. Also, be warned that the ending is unsatisfactory. Even so, it's very much worth reading.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:34 AM on November 14, 2006

I got the new US version last night. It is a little smaller than the old paperback, but still pretty weighty. Paper quality seems perfectly acceptable. Has an intro by Dave Eggers that is all about convincing people to actually read the book. Supposedly some typos and errors were fixed. Only ten bucks. So: Nothing to get super-excited about, but I couldn't not get a new edition of my all-time favorite book. Come on.
posted by jga at 10:37 AM on November 14, 2006

I'm currently reading it, which is to say, I'm struggling through vast sloughs of verbiage in search of its occasional sublime passages. I shouldn't bother waiting. It'll be heavy going whatever version you have, so you might as well get started.
posted by RokkitNite at 10:59 AM on November 14, 2006

Well, I loved the book. Um... obviously...

{/eponymisterical}
posted by hincandenza at 11:41 AM on November 14, 2006

^
I'm jealous of your comparatively subtle user name.

I'd suggest committing to reading the thing twice. It's the only way you'll pick up on most of what was going on. (I've read it cover to cover three or four times and I'm sure I've still missed a lot).

Obviously, I think it's worthwhile.
posted by Infinite Jest at 12:16 PM on November 14, 2006

You may as well get whatever edition's available on shelves. For what it's worth, I've read books that are ancestors of Infinite Jest (Gaddis's The Recognitions; Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow) multiple times each, but have only felt the need to read Infinite Jest once since I first got it (I have the first-state, first-edition hardcover, identifiable by the misspelling of William T. Vollmann's name on the back cover: nyah, nyah, nyah). I'm not sure that a new edition would make a significant difference in the reading experience, though I do remember the book having a fair number of typos.

If the quality of the book as a physical object is your greatest concern, Infinite Jest is still in print in hardcover in the United States. Amazon.com sells it--consider importing. The hardcover's ever so slightly larger than the paperback, and the pagination's the same (I believe). Given the size of the type for the footnotes and the bare-bones typesetting, the larger the book, the better.
posted by Prospero at 12:24 PM on November 14, 2006

Ok, if you can't already tell from these comments Infinite Jest is one of those love-it-or-hate-it books, so what I would recommend is finding a copy in a library, going through 150-200 pages, and then you have the option of picking up the new edition if you like David Foster Wallace's writing.
posted by furiousthought at 4:11 PM on November 14, 2006

Without spoiling it for you, let me just say there is a distinct similarity between Infinite Jest and The Worm Ouroboros except that in the Worm, you arrive at the payoff in about 1/2 the pages.
posted by Lynsey at 4:37 PM on November 14, 2006

Lynsey: Looking at your link, it appears it would take a meta-writer of extarordianry mapping shenaningan skills to link Infinite Jest with some dodgy Fantasy novel.
posted by lalochezia at 1:11 PM on November 15, 2006

Purchased a new copy of the old edition from Amazon. £9.
posted by takeyourmedicine at 4:45 PM on November 15, 2006