I'm not really sure who this is for. I suppose it's helpful for people who are trying to sort out the chronology of what actually happens in Infinite Jest, but, then the internet exists and there are numerous websites to help you out with that. Only a small fraction of the reader's guide is actually about IJ, and its content. The other essays are about DFWs place in the history of encyclopedic novels, an attempt to make some sort of accord with his prose style by examining his shortest story, and a couple brief reviews of his later works. Burns certainly knows a lot about DFW, but his essays range from "this is somewhat interesting" to "oh Jesus, this is overreaching."

I'm also not really sure what I expected. I tend to like academic writing, but Burn's examinations seem to be hyper specific to the point where most of Infinite Jest's major themes aren't even touched upon. He has nothing to really say about addiction for instance, and while he almost completely skips Hamlet, he does go way into the Greek myths.

I guess if I'm being honest, I read this book because I really wanted to re-read Infinite Jest but was too lazy to dive back in. I thought by dipping back into the world via a critical lens, I would be able to get back some of that powerful buzz the book had originally given me. Instead, it made me question why I even liked the novel in the first place, which can't be Burn's intention here, which, ya know, hence the one star.

Some good insights, but not really as helpful as I had hoped. I didn't have a problem following the plot of IJ, so I didn't care about all the rehashing.

Very interesting, but i would have liked even more.

This guide helped me with reading Infinite Jest which is the best book I have read since college :)

A brief history of hideous work

This book is clearly misnamed, perhaps a third of this book pertains to "Infinite Jest", the rest a somewhat rambling Brownian discussion of Wallace's work and his influences. This is disappointing as one has the sense the reviewer left many issues of the magnums opus "on the table". To add insult to literary injury, this book is actually more expensive than the work it reviews.

A nice way to spend a sunday morning and revisit one of the greatest novels of recent decades.

I didn't make it past the first paragraph without a pencil. Good Stuff.

A good overview of Infinite Jest.

This is not a book to open along with your first reading of "Infinite Jest." Maybe not even with your second. Is that pretentious? All I know is I appreciated it a lot but only after I'd read and re-read "Infinite Jest" enough to be familiar with the text without having it at hand. This book is for serious English scholars and Wallace junkies (like me) who can't get "Infinite Jest" out of their heads. This is the academic examination that I've always felt "Infinite Jest" deserves, a blend of rabid fandom and weighty criticism. Be forewarned, though: it really helps to have read more of Wallace's other works (plus Pynchon and Joyce and Dickens and many more) since the author refers to them for support or comparison quite often.

3.5 stars out of 5. The analysis of "Infinite Jest" is superb and thought-provoking, but a good third of the text is devoted to Wallace's other books. Nothing wrong with that, to be sure, as it helps to place the author and IJ into a broader context, but critiquing those other works was not the reason I picked up this guide.

1) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/boo...

2) Discuss.

Mainly what I learned from this book is that I wasn't paying enough attention when I completed my original reading of IJ. In particular, the very first section contains several passing references that are easily glossed over, but in fact turn out to be important links between the different plot threads.

Of course, it's still maddeningly difficult, because - though Stephen Burn makes a plausible case for several of the putative links he identifies, some are still purely speculative, as DFW left a lot of stuff deliberately ambiguous.

Although this reader's guide might have been useful to have while I was reading IJ, I'm not sorry I didn't have it. If nothing else, I was forced to work a little harder with the text.

But for anyone who made it all the way through IJ, this is definitely worth reading, and will offer some new perspectives. If it's any consolation, Stephen Burn makes a persuasive case that most of the major reviewers failed to notice details in the novel's construction that turn out to be pretty important.

Burn's style is straightforward - informative, without being stuffy or condescending. He obviously admires the book a lot, but it's not the unquestioning admiration of a fanboy. Which is a good thing.

Really good at connecting plots. I think he missed some important overall themes, tho. Did gin me up a bit for the plunge, my second try, the last one in 1994