Infinite Summer was an online book club–style project started by writer Matthew Baldwin. Sponsored by The Morning News, participants were challenged to read 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 Infinite Summer's website. Participants 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 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 called the project "a noble and crazy enterprise".[9]

References

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  1. ^ Nurwisah, Ron (June 22, 2009). "An interview with Infinite Summer creator Matthew Baldwin". The National Post. Retrieved August 3, 2009.[dead link]
  2. ^ Gandert, Sean (June 8, 2009). "David Foster Wallace Remembered with Infinite Summer Reading Group". Paste Magazine. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  3. ^ "The Short List of Things to Do". Time magazine. June 12, 2009. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  4. ^ Silverman, Jacob (June 29, 2009). "The story behind Infinite Summer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Meloy, Colin (June 19, 2009). "Why I am Reading Infinite Jest". InfiniteSummer.org. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  7. ^ Klein, Ezra (June 3, 2009). "A Supposedly Fun Thing I Plan to Do This Summer". Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  8. ^ Ducker, George (21 September 2009). "John Krasinski and David Foster Wallace's endless summer". LA Times Blogs - Jacket Copy. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  9. ^ "About". InfiniteSummer.org. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
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