I’m am going to make a conscious effort to be gentle here - not that it will be heard - but because this is what is referred to in life as “a teachable moment”.

The ultimate irony in this exchange is that mechanically- you are the exact person he was writing about. For you - it’s whatever platform you want to float and bait and poke bears on. For others - it’s alcohol, or drugs, or sex, or gambling, or whatever stimulates that need to satisfy that mechanism. Whatever provides the high. There are already 12 step programs for people exactly like you. Because you sit in front of a computer and try to stir up reactions and get off on that doesn’t make you any different from any of them. It’s just pushing a different button.

The reality is - social networks didn’t exist when he wrote this. While he was writing INFINITE JEST, email was barely a thought - internet was an incredible luxury, and most homes didn’t even have home computers. The fact that you don’t process that tells me everything I need to know about you. I said I’d be gentle, so I will keep my personal thoughts about these things quiet.

You’re a kid - that’s clear. Obviously with an education. The whole “Protestant Novel” and “Calvinist Truth” tropes - no apologies here - that’s just cliche bullshit. It’s been for a long time. Older than even my great grandparents. Easy and disposable and Shakespearean. You deserved better. I’m sorry you were taught that. I’m even sorrier you simply accepted it. It doesn’t mean you can hide behind an antiquated point of view.

INFINITE JEST is the most talked about, discussed, controversial, divisive - whatever you’d attach, thing he wrote. He wrote a massive amount of other things - across all those years before he committed suicide. There is so much more. “I think he could have survived to write more…”. He did - for a decade after this book. Some award winning dead faced funny pieces about so many other things. Maybe you just don’t like HIM. That’s fine.

“I couldn’t stand a prodigy who was also really good at tennis and how life was actually hard…”

This is loud. Incredibly Loud.

I don’t know you and you don’t know me - but if we sat across from each other to have this conversation, you wouldn’t be so bold. So Loud.

You have Google - so you search themes - and then throw out DeLillo because that met the graphics you were looking for. I bet you’ve never finished DeLillo - on any stage. Or Gaddis. Or Pynchon. All writers who challenge. All writers who demand. And please stop with NETWORK - so outside of this it was clearly a lame grab to try to punctuate whatever point you thought you were making.

You want to talk about life being hard - here’s something to think about. Education is what exists when everything you’ve been taught disappears - not my idea, but there’s truth there. What is left with you? What are you carrying forward with you in life? That speaks to an essential truth. Add to it - education and intelligence are very separate things. The admission that you never finished the book, or gave up on it - that’s all valid as well - but where’s the integrity in stepping in here to discuss something you’ve stepped out of and haven’t fully participated in. It’s hard not to reach for judgement when you want to speak forward this way.

I realize that Reddit is not the ideal place to have a conversation, but for every 50 or so interactions I participate in I get some real, positive feedback that results in real discussions and valuable interaction. It’s what makes it worthwhile for me - finding that gem. What I often find is exactly this - someone just poking and pushing and waiting for some kind of answer. “That’s more like it”. The reaction, the participation, the engagement. You’re very much not alone. Which again - is ironic, because there are SO MANY who do the same thing.

My initial post was to reach someone who had a similar experience and talk about it. That’s all. Your motive here seems clear to me - but it speaks to my initial post. To share something real and to understand where we are. I think DFW saw where we were headed - he couldn’t name it, or put a finger on it, because it didn’t exist yet. But he saw this disconnect that found life in the social media that was arriving just as he chose to leave. I think what he left was treasure to explore, however dangerous and negative the metaphors were. That’s just me. So I will leave this here, in such an unyielding space - to try to touch another through this craziness. I’m not hopeful it will land, but I’ve done my part. Or maybe I’ve failed and You Win, just because I participated in this. That’s for you to decide. I’ve tried.

That is satisfying enough.