Like most self-proclaimed serious readers, I maintain loosely-codified mental lists of books I feel I should read and those I actually want to. Then there are those volumes that bridge both categories, but that I’ve avoided because of their intimidating page counts. I feel certain that I’ll eventually get around to reading Middlemarch and Underworld (I’m less sure about In Search of Lost Time), but as of this week I’m joining an array of readers across the Internet who are braving David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.

The plan calls for reading an entirely feasible seventy-five pages per week, meaning an approximate end date of September 22. The Infinite Summer website offers several tips which range from the absolutely necessary to the seemingly dubious, as well as testimonials from participants like the blogger Jason Kottke and The Decemberists’ frontman Colin Meloy. I’ve never been one for book clubs, but the site’s discussion forum may well prove to be interesting.

If you haven’t read much of Wallace’s writing, the prospect of cutting your teeth on a 1,079-page novel may seem especially daunting. Starting with his shorter (though by no means short) magazine articles might be a better idea. Even detractors of Wallace’s novels and short stories tend to praise this brilliant non-fiction work. Fortunately, many of these pieces can be read for free online. Among the most popular are those he wrote for Harper’s, including the seminal “Shipping Out” (a longer, re-titled version is the eponymous essay in his collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again). Other highlights include his meditation on the morality of cooking lobsters alive, his appreciation of tennis great Roger Federer, and his profile of right-wing radio host John Ziegler. His 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College is also well-worth your time.

And if that’s not enough to keep you sated, delve into the Walrus archives. Charles Foran discussed Wallace’s Oblivion and Consider The Lobster, along with books by Jonathan Franzen, Rick Moody, and Jonathan Lethem, in the March 2007 issue. More recently, Mark Kingwell’s May 2009 cover story about Barack Obama repeatedly referenced Wallace, though not by name. As Kingwell explained at last month’s Walrus Underground event, the essay deals as much with his feelings about Wallace’s suicide as it does his thoughts on the new American president.

If you’ve already read all of Wallace’s published work, perhaps it’s time to give Infinite Jest a second look while waiting for next year’s release of his unfinished novel The Pale King. Or maybe it’s time to crack another brick-thick tome, whether you feel you should read it or just want to. In any case, I’ll see you in September.