DISPATCH FROM THE HEAD

Fiction and Future: Wallace's Predictions of COVID, AI, Netflix, and Nationalism 

It occurred to me recently that David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest almost perfectly predicted the razor's edge we find ourselves walking these days. The story takes place in a future US on the brink of societal collapse. The series of events that take place over the course of its sprawling 1,000+ page saga must have seemed fantastical and borderline-outlandish in 1996. The real meanings of course, as with much postmodern fiction, lie beneath the surface; the actual storylines themselves can be a fun ride…

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