Infinite Jest (1996)

　　By David Foster Wallace

　　A Ten Commandments-size cast populates this rule-breaking modern classic, infamous for sprawling prose, endless footnotes,¹ and a madcap depiction of the future.² Confounding and delightful in equal measure, Jest takes place in the 'burbs of Boston,³ between a halfway house and a nearby tennis academy. Wallace had one of his central characters take his own life, and in a tragic true-life twist, Wallace did the same, leaving behind a magnum opus that will be argued and digested for infinity. Serve up a tennis-ball-yellow cocktail that mimics the zest and bounce of one fallen literary legend.

Ingredients

　　2 ounces vodka

　　1 ounce limoncello

　　1/2 ounce lemon juice

　　Minding that tennis elbow, shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Head back to the court, sport, and never give up on your game.

　　Cooks' Note

　　¹Just like this, but they appeared at the end of the book—over four hundred of 'em!

　　²Time is marked with corporate sponsorships, as in the Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken.

　　³Wallace briefly studied philosophy at Harvard (who hasn't?) and later taught at Emerson.

　　Recipe reprinted with permission from Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist. Copyright © 2013 by Tim Federle; illustrations © 2013 by Lauren Mortimer. Published by Running Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.