Links fixed.
Hmmm... how do I justify my viewing habits?
Have a read Mike Broida's piece over at The Millions, 'Infinite Jest' in the Age of Addiction:
[...]
What if — according to InterLace — what if a viewer could more or less 100% choose what’s on at any given time? Choose and rent, over PC and modem and fiber-optic line, from tens of thousands of second-run films, documentaries, the occasional sport, old beloved non-‘Happy Days’ programs, wholly new programs, cultural stuff, and c., all prepared by the time-tested, newly lean Big Four’s mammoth vaults and production facilities and packaged and disseminated by InterLace TelEnt.
If I call the six hours I spent watching the old seasons of Parks And Recreation “binge-watching,” then I am doubly insulated by, first, acknowledging upfront the gluttony of it, and, second, by the irony of calling it a binge in the first place. If I jokingly pretend I’m binging on television, then it’s ironic because watching television is better than knocking back a case of beer, right? Yet television, like narcotics, has a certain intentionality behind it, as Wallace lays bare in “E Unibus Pluram”: “Because of the economies of nationally broadcast, advertiser-subsidizer entertainment, television’s one goal — never denied by anybody in or around TV since RCA first authorized field test in 1936 — is to ensure as much watching as possible.” Wallace’s conclusion is as true as ever, but due to the allure of the Internet as the new “low” art, filled by Youtube, Reddit, viral videos, and vociferous memes dominating the sort of repetitive desire that an American Gladiators marathon used to hold, TV had to change its tactics. Ultimately, the new strategy for capturing their viewers, to convince them of their true desire to watch more and more, was a sea change towards quality entertainment, turning TVs strongest critics into its greatest allies. After all, it is hard to feel poorly about spending a Saturday watching an entire season of The Wire, when its creator, David Simon, won a McArthur “genius” Grant.
[...]
Keep reading, Infinite Jest' in the Age of Addiction.
[Thanks, Phillip, for reporting the broken links.]
Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 July 2016 07:28
It's official, OzWallace 2017, the Australian hosted David Foster Wallace conference is happening in Melbourne, September 1-3 2017! Save those dates!
This is going to be the best thing ever - seriously, there are some fantastic Wallace scholars here in Aus.
Follow Dr. of Creative Writing, and conference organiser, Tony McMahon, on twitter for updates (@tony_mcmahon2) and check out more of Nathan Seppelt's, (@darwinfinite) amazing OzWallace 2017 promotional pics/postcards on the Facebook page.
(Merch at DFW16...)
Carly, Isabelle and Katherine are calling for submissions for their Infinite Jest inspired Zine, And Lo.
Love Infinite Jest? Hate Infinite Jest? AND LO ZINE wants your content!
We are three girls who by some stroke of fate happened to read David Foster Wallace’s magnum opus at the same time and felt a connection with it. We’re looking to put together a zine of IJ-inspired writing and art.
Submissions and questions can be sent to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Submission deadline 7/22/16 (tentatively).
Don’t have the time to submit but still interested? Take this IJ survey!
Visit their And Lo tumblr for more information
The 3rd annual David Foster Wallace conference, DFW 2016, kicks off on soon on July 28th. If you're going, enjoy!
(I believe you can still register...)
Did you miss the recent Infinite Winter group read of Infinite Jest?
Then you might be interested in Poor Yoricks' Summer another group read happening right now. Some nice posts over on the blog.
I'm a broken record, but I always enjoy reading about people reading Infinite Jest.
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