Infinite Jest

At E.T.A., students are urine-tested for drugs four times every year. Because many students would not pass, they buy clean urine from a student named Michael Pemulis. As part of the vaunted James O. Incandenza scholarship program, Michael is better at academics than he is at tennis. As well as selling clean urine, Michael Pemulis also sells drugs. He gives Hal a clean urine sample in exchange for help with other work. At this time, Hal is considered a sporting and academic prodigy.

Winter B.S. (1960, Tucson, AZ)

A first-person narrator has a conversation with the 10-year-old James Incandenza, whom they refer to as Jim. The conversation takes place inside a communal garage on the trailer park where the Incandenza family lives. The narrator is actually Jim’s father, James Senior, and they talk about Jim’s hardworking mother who once had a small part in a movie. According to his father, Jim is destined to be a famous tennis player, so James Senior warns his son not to focus too much on optical physics. James Senior, who has an alcohol addiction, once dreamed of being a professional tennis player. He still remembers the time when his own father, Mario Senior, came to watch him play tennis. During the match, however, he was overheard to say that James Senior will never amount to much as a tennis player. James Senior injured himself in that moment when he slipped on a black widow spider on the court. He never fully recovered from the injury. At the same time, Jim’s father tells his son that the family will soon move to California so that he can make one last attempt to become the actor that his “last waning talent deserves” (162).

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (November 4)

Michael Pemulis obtains a rare drug named DMZ. He tries some himself then calls Hal to share the good news. According to the internet forums Michael reads, DMZ has the power to change the way a person relates to time itself. The drug is nicknamed Madame Psychosis, a reference to an on-air radio personality on the cult student radio station WYYY. Mario is a devout listener to WYYY. Hal is interested in buying something from Michael and uses their agreed-upon code to convey this.

Tennis and the Feral Prodigy, Narrated by Hal Incandenza […]

An instructional film, directed by Mario and narrated by Hal, introduces students to life at Enfield Tennis Academy. The instructions include advice for budding prodigies and how to deal with the strange art films directed by Hal’s father James that are occasionally screened at E.T.A.

Selected Transcripts of the Resident-Interface-Drop-in-Hours of Ms. Patricia Montesian […]

This chapter is a series of transcripts of conversations with residents at the Ennet House rehabilitation facility in the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. The residents complain about fellow residents’ annoying behavior, the definition of the term “alcoholic,” and non-functioning toilets. Residents also worry about their struggles to overcome addiction, the role of religion in the rehab facility, and their loss of hope. One resident is being kicked out and does not know where to go next.

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (Late October)

Madame Psychosis is the only paid host at the WYYY radio station. Each show, she sits behind a screen to keep her identity hidden. She smokes cigarettes while discussing various topics with her small but fiercely loyal audience. Her most frequent topic is film, though in the past she has read out the instructions for making nuclear materials, causing a great deal of trouble. Avril Incandenza is a former M.I.T. student who quit her job to work at E.T.A., one of the only sports academies in the country that has an excellent academic reputation. The academic program designed by Avril includes a large focus on entertainment so that students can be entertainers as well as professional athletes. Avril checks on Mario, who is an avid listener of WYYY and Madame Psychosis’s show. She allows him to listen, even though she has a fear of disembodied voices. The station emits a strange, high-pitched sound. While Mario dreams about calling into Madame Psychosis’s show, he is too “scared to try” (190). Her pessimistic worldview means that in recent weeks she has only discussed negative or depressing books on her show. Avril, who eats supper later due to her Canadian upbringing, allows Hal and Mario to eat with her twice a week. She serves Hal a high protein gelatin square, and, like every week, they repeat the same conversation before Hal goes home at 1am.

Ennet House is located near the Enfield Marine Public Health Hospital. One of the nearby buildings is a methadone clinic for addiction recovery. In Ennet House, a resident receiving treatment for an addiction to methedrine watches and laughs at people who are refused methadone. The woman laughs so hard that she drops her binoculars onto a Corvette sports car. The car belongs to Calvin Thrust, a former pornographic actor who is now a patient at Ennet House. The binoculars dent the Corvette, and the incident nearly results in the woman being dismissed from Ennet House. Another nearby building treats veterans with Alzheimer’s Disease. This building is nicknamed the Shed because, as explained in an endnote, the veterans are “stored” rather than housed in the facility. The patients in the Shed are all paralyzed by their fear. One of the buildings on the facility grounds is boarded up. This building is known only as Unit #7 and it is used by residents to relapse with their addictions, though they are immediately discharged from Ennet House if they do so. E.T.A. is also nearby, and some residents from Ennet House work in custodial roles at the tennis academy.

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (November 6)

A group of E.T.A. students use the weight room during the afternoon. They shout motivational slogans at one another that border on sexually aggressive. According to the narrator, life at facilities such as Ennet House can provide a great deal of insight into humanity. Quitting a “Substance” (200) can result in existential crises and expose the horrific and abusive backgrounds of many of the residents. The narrator provides a long list of the many lessons that can be learned by spending any amount of time in a recovery facility. After a section describing the lives of the people of Boston, the ways people seek to escape their own alienation, and the difficulties of quitting a Substance, the narrative switches to a resident of Ennet House named Tiny Ewell. Unlike many other residents, Tiny is a highly educated, wealthy lawyer, though he has fallen on difficult times. Tiny obsesses over details and shares his theories about tattoos and other subjects with residents, including Kate Gompert who lacks the will to get up and walk away. Although most people ignore Tiny, Don Gately explains to him how prisoners tattoo each other. 

In Michael Pemulis’s dorm room, Trevor Axford and Hal examine the DMZ tablets. Michael explains the effects of the rare drugs that he obtained from French Canadian separatists who had no idea of the drugs’ real value. The recipe for DMZ has been lost for years, so Michael wonders whether he might be able to recreate the drug using a sample. He talks at length about the strength and potency of DMZ, which he claims was used in military experiments. The three boys plan to set aside 36 hours to take the drug. Hal insists that he research DMZ before taking it. They set a plan to take the drug over a weekend at the end of November, though Michael will need to improve his tennis ranking to ensure that he is available.

Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (November 7)

Joelle van Dyne feels depressed, as she does whenever a party reaches its end. At a party to celebrate Molly Notkin passing part of her Film & Film-Cartridge Theory PhD, Joelle considers whether she could lock herself in Molly’s bathroom and kill herself by overdosing on drugs. Joelle is addicted to crack cocaine, and she knows her addiction is out of control. She hates crack but cannot imagine life without it.

Chronology of Organization of North American Nations’ Revenue-Enhancing Subsidized Time™, By Year

The naming rights for each year are sold to companies for the purpose of advertising, beginning with the Year of the Whopper and continuing to the most recent Year of Glad.

While walking through Boston, Joelle thinks about the French Canadian separatist organizations. She believes that their actions are pointless but knows that her drug addiction is influencing her thoughts. She remembers her many acting roles in the films made by James Incandenza before he died by suicide. Despite working with him many times, she has never seen the films he made. She referred to him as Infinite Jim; not many people know that Joelle is Madame Psychosis. Orin Incandenza and Joelle were in a romantic relationship for several years, though Avril suspected that her husband and Joelle had an affair while working together. However, James’s faltering health made such an affair impossible. When Orin and Joelle broke up, Joelle remained in Boston, and she continues to receive a stipend, as per James’s will. She spends the money on crack.

PUTATIVE CURRICULUM VITAE OF HELEN P. STEEPLY, 36, 1.93 M., 104 KG., A.B., M.J.A.

Helen Steeply has worked at a number of magazine outlets. She currently works for Moment magazine.

After gathering the supplies needed to get high, Joelle goes into the bathroom at Molly’s party. She drifts past the pretentious conversations between the other guests, only able to think about how she will soon die by suicide by having “Too Much Fun” (235). While someone bangs on the door, she smokes crack. Joelle overdoses and begins to vomit in the bathroom.