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Infinite Summer is over, but 2666 Spring calls

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This summer, a group of enterprising readers took on a really big book -- David Foster Wallace’s ‘Infinite Jest’ -- in a new, dedicated online book club. The project grew, and the Infinite Summer website became a robust destination for those reading along -- and those of us just eavesdropping on the discussion.

Ideas to read Roberto Bolaño’s acclaimed ‘2666’ sparked and petered out -- until today. Matt Bucher decided to restart the big book online reading group elsewhere, at bolanobolano.com, where he’s posted a reading schedule that stretches for more than three months. He writes:

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The format here will be similar to Infinite Summer’s group read of Infinite Jest. There will be a schedule, a weekly recap, and some analysis from guides. There will also be a Twitter hashtag. Since this read is not limited to or sponsored by Infinite Summer, I propose #2666 instead of #infsum -- partly because it’s one character shorter and partly because people are already using it.

There is still a chance that the old Infinite Summer site, with its bells and whistles, will wind up becoming an online destination for the group read of ‘2666.’ There will also be discussion on a Bolaño mailing list, which Bucher links to in his post.

The reading group begins Jan. 25, so there is plenty of time to get a copy of ‘2666’ if you don’t yet own the 912-page novel. But if that scares you, the weekly reading allotment is about 50 pages -- entirely manageable.

It seemed, for a couple of years there, that everyone who likes books had already devoured ‘2666’ on their own. But not everyone -- don’t be surprised if you see me in the 2666 Spring.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

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