Infinite Summer was an online book club–style project started by writer Matthew Baldwin. Sponsored by The Morning News, participants were challenged to read David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest at a rate of about 75 pages a week from June 21 to September 22, 2009.[1][2][3]
Baldwin and three other writers acted as "guides", providing commentary on Infinite Summer's website. Participants also contributed commentary over a variety of social networking services, including Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, where related posts were marked with the hashtag #infsum.
Baldwin said in interviews that the project was prompted in part by Wallace's death in September 2008.[4]
Notable participants included Colin Meloy of The Decemberists,[5][6] Ezra Klein of The Washington Post,[7] and John Krasinski, who was about to release his film adaptation of Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.[8] Though he did not participate, John Hodgman called the project "a noble and crazy enterprise".[9]