As of bedtime last night, I’m on page 138. A little behind where I wanted to be, but my giving-up point is usually page 100 or thereabouts, so at least I’m in it for the long haul. If I continue at this pace I’ll have this book conquered by the first day of the fall semester – six weeks from today.

I know reading a thousand-page novel is an odd way to get back into reading. Especially a novel that, by all accounts, is a huge intellectual and emotional undertaking.  When I read at home, I have to be in bed, as far away as possible from my phone, my laptop and the television. If my mind starts to wander, I have to close the book and let what’s trying to go through my head run its course. When I read at work, I have to put my earbuds in so no one is tempted to talk to me. But I feel like once I finish this book, I’ll have my confidence back. I’ll be able to look at the 300-page books I used to knock out in a few days and say, “I can do this. If I can read Infinite Jest, I can read this. I CAN READ ANYTHING.”