Michael schur, in sweatshirt, cocreator of parks and recreation, based a new video for the decemberists calamity song on infinite jest. The decemberists new video is awash with hip jumpoffs. He was a producer and writer for the comedy series the office, and cocreated parks and recreation with office producer greg daniels. Amy poehler is hosting a dinner party and youre invited. Here is michael schur on directing the video for the decemberists calamity song, which was inspired by david foster wallaces infinite jest. Decemberists frontman colin meloy came up with the videos conceptwhich involves teenagers playing the fictional game eschatonand got acquainted with schur by talking about the book for an hour over the phone. The decemberists recreate david foster wallaces infinite jest with help from parks and recreation show runner michael schur. This entire episode is essentially an homage to that book. It was henry rollins, adam scott, myself, and a couple of other actors. Til that michael schur the creator of parks and recreation brooklyn ninenine and the good place owns the film rights to david foster wallaces novel infinite jest. At harvard, he made wallace an honorary member of the lampoon and wrote his thesis about infinite jest. And when a rep for the group called in search of a music. Ive got two worn copies, just to be on the safe side. If you want to understand the creative nuts and bolts of michael schur a writer for such nbc comedy institutions as saturday night live, the office, and parks and recreationyou should probably read novelist david foster wallaces 1996 novel, infinite jest.
I think thats the only infinite jest adaptation id be interested in. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, infinite jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. Infinite jest imbues decemberists video by michael schur. Its directed by michael schur parks and recreation writer, mose schrute in several episodes of. He is a tv series creator, a writer, and producer known for series such as the office 2005, parks and recreation 2009, brooklyn ninenine 20 and the good place 2016. Infinitejest submitted 1 year ago by subject99 ok so i know the prospect of making an adaptation of the book is kind of a touchy subject on this sub. There are many reference to the book and the author in the office. Parks and recreation cocreator showrunner mike schur is a noted fan of david foster wallaces novel infinite jest, and prior to last nights. A scene in infinite jest is reborn as a rock video. This is long listen but the chapters are well paced, and as mentioned, sean pratt reads with a deep sensitivity and knowledge of the text and the author humour is particularly effectively conveyed. Would you consider the audio edition of infinite jest. Bojack horseman and infinite jest are basically the same story. Mike schur, showrunner of parks and recreation, is obsessed with david foster wallace.
Part i with a foreword by dave eggers to be better than the print version. So thanks, dave wallace, not laird, for this gift of infinite jest. An interview with michael schur parks and recreation. Directed by michael schur, who works on the fantastic parks and recreation, calamity song depicts a game of eschaton from the david foster wallace novel infinite jest which ive written about here. Michael schur wrote for saturday night live and the office before cocreating, writing, and producing parks and recreation and, most recently, brooklyn ninenine, two halfhour comedies that have won critical acclaim and loyal fans. A biographer thinks hed be wowed by the decemberists infinite jest tribute. While there are many details in the life of michael schur, the cocreator and show runner of the comedy show parks and recreation, that convey his obsession with the david foster wallace novel infinite jest, perhaps the most salient is that his wife once forbade him from discussing that 1,079pagelong work of fiction at social gatherings. I found out that infinite jest was the favorite book of the showrunner of parks and recreation mike schur. Show executive producer michael schur is a fan of david foster wallace, american author of infinite jest 1996. He created the good place, cocreated the comedy series brooklyn ninenine and was a producer on the series master of none. Harpercollins is releasing amy poehlers audio book on vinyl. How to pretend youve read david foster wallaces infinite jest.
Michael schur was born on october 29, 1975 in west hartford, connecticut, usa as michael herbert schur. One of my friends suggests doing infinite jest as an anthology series where the intent is not to adapt the whole book but to interpret a bunch of scenes, all from different directors etc. Infinite jest imbues decemberists video by michael schur the. Michael schur takes on infinite jest bookish impose. The bands manager, jason, contacted me through his brother michael and asked me to direct a video they were planning that referenced a section of the book infinite jest. Great interview by stephanie palumbo with michael schur in the most recent issue of the believer which covers all manner of things including significant content about david foster wallace. For most people, simply having a copy of david foster wallaces infinite jest once a cult doorstop of a novel, now a point of honorcontention among readerson the bookshelf or coffee table is enough to impress.
Michael schur on dfw in the believer general updates great interview by stephanie palumbo with michael schur in the most recent issue of the believer which covers all manner of things including significant content about david foster wallace. The bands manager, jason, contacted me through his brother michael with whom i went to college and asked me to direct a video they were planning that referenced a section of the book infinite jest. Schur was approached to direct the calamity song video because he went to school with the brother of the decemberists manager, who remembered his affinity for infinite jest. The good place, owns the film rights to david foster wallaces novel, infinite jest. The decemberists yeah, your moms favorite new band and michael schur from parks and rec yeah, the only show you watch on broadcast, whatever that means now have come together to reenact a scene from infinite jest for a decemberists video. The music vid uses elements from a risklike tennis game. David foster wallace would have had his 50th birthday on february 21, 2012. The david foster wallace conference, held the past two years at illinois state. As schur discussed with the new york times, he was a devoted fan of infinite jest when he was a student at harvard. Michael herbert schur, popularly known as michael schur is an american television producer, writer, and actor. It is based on a section of infinite jest by david foster wallace. Reading from the blindspots a short meditation on the whiteness of david foster wallaces writing. This performance by sean pratt is really humorous, sad and entertaining. If he had lived, and maintained the course he was on, he probably would have been the subject of articles about david foster wallace at 50, boy genius grows up, etc, covering important topics like his shorter haircut, his apparently happy marriage.
Infinite jest works well in audiobook form and this is in no small part helped by sean pratts fantastic reading complete with impressive changes in accent, tone and characterisation. Til that michael schur, the creator of parks and recreation, brooklyn. The dream director for infinite jest movieseries self. Absolutely, for the novice to this type of literary fiction, i cannot tell you how many times i have started and given up on the actual book. Infinite jests eschaton in video form mental floss. Parks and recreations michael schur talks about directing. Parks and recreations michael schur talks about directing the.
Infinite jest scene, reborn as a rock video indian express. Michael herbert schur born october 29, 1975 is an american television producer, writer, and actor. Mike schur was recently on ezra kleins podcast and recommended this as an example of great. Michael herbert schur born october 29, 1975 is an american television. Its not clear how many copies of the limited edition are available, but the record boasts some guest stars in the unabridged recording, including carol burnett, seth meyers, michael schur, patrick stewart. Infinite winter read infinite jest with a few hundred of. Welcome to the audiobook edition of amy poehlers yes please. The new york times wrote a piece giving the full background. So many people post their i just finished x post, and while thats fine, what i hope to do differently is having just finished infinite jest, write a post i would have liked to have read before having started the book. Infinite jest is one of the great novels of our era, but it would probably make a terrible movie. Infinite jest references in partridge check out this episode. The video is directed by michael schur, a cocreator of nbcs parks and recreation.
David foster wallace, the postmodern maximalist known for his 1,079page opus infinite jest, popular essays like a supposedly fun thing ill never do again, and his posthumous novel the. The ransom center purchasing wallaces archive, including handwritten, first drafts of infinite jest. Other tv show, bojack horseman, seems to be loosely based on this book. Thinking about david foster wallace, misogyny and scholarship.
The law firm representing councilman jamm is gately, wayne, kittenplan, and troeltsch, which are all names of students at the fictional enfield tennis academy. Yesterday, parks and recreation showrunner michael schur alerted us via tweet that last nights episode would include a few ij references. In any case, this is as close as were ever likely to get. His brand of humor contains an extraordinary amount of pathos while maintaining irreverence, and that complexity is embedded in schur. Infinite winter read infinite jest with a few hundred of your closest. Michael schur, in sweatshirt, cocreator of parks and recreation, based a new video for the decemberists calamity song on infinite jest, the novel by david foster wallace. Calamity song by the decemberists the new york times. That way, when someone asks if ive actually read it, trying to get one over on me, i can say.
Michael schur on dfw in the believer general updates. Last nights parks and rec was full of references to infinite jest. Michael schur is a big dfw fan who directed the decemberists eschaton inspired vid clip back in in 2011 and has referenced dfw in his tv show parks and recreation. The decemberists recreate david foster wallaces infinite jest with. Infinite jest by david foster wallace audiobook 37 duration. The guest list is starstudded with vocal appearances from carol burnett, seth meyers, michael schur, patrick stewart, kathleen turner, and even amys parents yes please is the ultimate audiobook extravaganza. And to continue in my fealty to mike schur, i decided to devour the massive feast that is infinite jest. David foster wallace, the postmodern maximalist known for his 1,079page opus infinite jest. Schur is such a jest fanboy that when the feature rights to the novel came up for sale a year ago, he snatched them more on that later.