Warning: I paid $28 for a used copy of Infinite Jest and quit on page 200 after 3 months

Christopher Butler · 2026-09-23T14:40:03.01209+00:00

I kept telling myself I would finish it because everyone at my book club in Portland raved about it last fall. Three months of picking it up and putting it down, and I finally gave up around page 200. The footnotes drove me nuts, I kept flipping to the back, losing my place, and reading the same paragraph four times. I spent $28 on a used copy at Powell's and honestly that money is gone forever. My friend Dan told me he quit at page 50 and I laughed at him back then, so I guess that's on me. What finally broke me was realizing I was reading it out of guilt, not because I liked it. Has anyone actually finished this thing, and if so, was it worth the slog or did you just power through out of pride?

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Warning: I paid $28 for a used copy of Infinite Jest and quit on page 200 after 3 months | Books We Quit - Librear