Our Year of the Depends Adult Undergarment
I would not be a very good Infinite Jest/David Foster Wallace enthusiast if I didn’t observe the fact that SPOILER ALERT the primary action of his most famous novel takes place in what is established to be November of the year 2009.
Upon noting that a bulk of the novel’s action has transpired by November 23 of the Year of the Depends Adult Undergarment, I began wondering how our version of 2009 stacked up against DFW’s. Not as entertaining, or as dystopian, but equally unsettling, I bet. After all—to paraphrase Hal on page 12—Johnny Gentle is just Sarah Palin in a dark mirror.
| Infinite Jest Time | Our Time |
|---|---|
| 1950: James Orin Incandenza is born. | Randy Quaid is born. |
| 1981: Don Gately is born. | My brother is born. |
| 1992: Hal Incandeza is born. | Miley Cyrus is born. |
| 11/07/2000: Johnny Gentle elected President. | George W. “elected” President. |
| 09/10/01: Orin Incandenza leaves tennis for football. | 09/11/01: Al-Qaeda attacks the United States. |
| 2002: Subsidized Time begins. | Republicans sweep midterm elections, accelerate plans for preemptive war on Iraq. |
| 04/01/04: James Incandenza commits suicide. | Google introduces Gmail. |
| 09/11/08: Don Gately enters substance-abuse treatment. | 09/12/08: David Foster Wallace commits suicide. |
| 04/30/09 – 05/01/09: Marathe and Steeply rendezvous near Tucson. | Chrysler Motors declares bankruptcy. |
| 10/15/09: Mario Incandenza encounters the USS Millicent Kent in the woods. | Balloon Boy is found safe in his attic. |
| 11/08/09: Interdependence Day / Eschaton. | Health care reform passes in the House. |
| 11/09/09: The AFR take control of Antitoi Entertainent [sic]. | The world observes the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s collapse. |
| 11/12/09: Gately lands in the hospital. | Carrie Prejean tries, fails to storm out of an interview with Larry King. |
| 11/14/09: Tony Krause has a seizure. | The New York Times prints the word douche on its front page. |
| 11/17/09: Hal visits Ennet House. | HarperCollins publishes Sarah Palin’s “memoir” Going Rogue. |
| 11/25/09: Mario turns 19. | Meg Ryan turns 48. |
| 12/12/09: Hal does poorly on the SAT. | The Mayan apocalypse arrives three years early. (SPOILER ALERT) |
With much thanks to Peter Levinson and Stephen Burn.
Posted: November 24th, 2009 under General, IJOASa-oBC, Reading & Writing.
Comments: 1
Comments
Comment from katie
Time: 24 November 2009, 08:45
this totally made my day.
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