The theory that James Orin Incandenza is the in-universe author of Infinite Jest
I've heard this mentioned, but never really talked about, and also it's hard to find any people circulating this idea online, so here's a couple reasons why I believe this:
-One of the only times we hear the author reference themselves is in a place directly related to fathers and sons (Footnote 268, after the section chronicling the incestuous relationship between Matthew Pemulis and his father: "Where was Mrs. Pemulis all this time, late at night, with dear old Da P. shaking Matty 'awake' until his teeth rattled and little Micky curled up against the far wall, shell-breathing, silent as death, is what I'd want to know."). So either this is David Foster Wallace, breaking the fourth wall (meh, not really a favorite of his, he does it in Westward and he isn't a huge fan of that story, also wouldn't he know where she was if he wrote the thing?), some character neither seen now referenced to in the text who somehow has all this information (highly unlikely, seems ham-fisted and dumb), or it's a character that we DO know who has access to all of this information
-While the above was what first got me thinking about this, this one was what kept me thiking: JOI named FIVE of his works "Infinite Jest." It's clearly a name he's fond of... (also the name "David" has a VI, which is six in Roman numerals. That's not anything, I just think it's cute)
-There are no experiences relayed to the reader that take place before the death of JOI that JOI is not in: the scenes of the professional conversationalist, Avril's premature delivery of Mario, the conversation between JOI and his father
-he is incapable of any form of communication other than the use of words — while his preferred art form is film, he can no longer operate a video camera, so his art now takes the form of text
-his big monologue to Gately is about the importance of figurants: things and people that would never get attention in a traditional narrative, the people who exist towards the edges. As the wonderfully named @pissmd points out, Infinite Jest is a novel whose events exist entirely around a main narrative — a story that ends right as the quote-unquote real story is about to begin. To quote them, it is a novel about figurants, yes, but the novel itself is a figurant, kind of
-Wallace gives a fair amount of time to explaining how wraiths work, suggesting it is in some way important. They can move incredibly quickly and peer inside people's minds, both of which would explain how the author knows everything that's happening in the character's heads and how it can elaborate on multiple things happening in rapid succession
-I also think it makes sense on a subtextual level! Wallace talks a lot about writers (specifically fiction writers, which, Incandenza being a screenwriter, applies to him) as a species of oglers, so Incandenza being someone who has to apply an enormous amount of mental effort to be seen, much less understood, by others is kind of an ideal writer, in his eyes.
The biggest problem this idea has, I think, is the narrative interest in Don Gately. The interest in Hal, Orin, Pemulis, Mario, Madame Psychosis, even Marathe and Steeply, kind of, makes sense, but I have no earthly idea why the wraith would follow Gately before he gets involved with Madame Psychosis. Maybe my Wallace-heads can help explain this one for ol' anthrax of effervescence.
Let me know if you think of any rebuttals to this! I'm sure I've missed some big stuff, both for and against this theory. Take care of yourselves, gang!
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