Infinite Jest Characters - Ennet House

I had a few days off with covid so messed around with AI art

• My essays on Infinite Jest: On double binds; On recursion.

• My book club podcast episode on DFW.

Here is my attempt at some Infinite Jest fan art with the help of AI. Since there are a bajillion characters in the novel, I’ve started with just the staff and residents of Ennet House (the drug and alcohol recovery house). I’ll do the tennis players and other characters another time.

AI is still a way off from making seamless art so some of the illustrations might be a slightly lacking.

I’d love to hear which ones you like or if any of them are way off base.

I might make them into an Anki flashcard deck if that’s helpful. It might help people actually read the damn thing.

Listed alphabetically. Don’t worry: No big spoilers.

Geoffrey Day

One of the few mid-upper class residents. Starts superficial conflicts to show he doesn’t belong. Has a legitimate beef with Randy Lenz. Wants to believe in cliches and God and Giving In but is frustrated at the impossibility of sincerely making the leap of faith. Argues with Tiny Ewell about whose credit cards are most impressive.

Ken Erdedy

One of the more well-to-do residents. Nervous. Appears in a memorable early set piece where he’s caught in several double binds while waiting for his final final massive weed binge.

Tiny Ewell

(aka Eldred Ewell.) Anxious attorney. Actually tiny. Obsessed with the prevalence and classification of the other residents’ tattoos.

Don Gately

(aka BIM¹.) Heart and soul of the book. Former burglar and drug addict. Current live-in-staffer at Ennet House. 300 pounds, over 6 foot, the size of a small dinosaur, with a big square head. Slowly learning to Surrender.

Francis Gehaney

(aka Ferocious Francis.) Tough, elder member of the Crocodiles, a seasoned group of recovered alcoholics who frequent the AA meetings. Reminds other members to Keep Coming. Sponsors Don Gately in the 12-step program after Gately finally plucked up the courage to ask.

Doony Glynn

(aka Dwayne Glynn.) Suffers bouts of gastro sickness. Weary of bricks and pulleys after a workplace accident. Once messed up by a powerful drug that made the sky look like a gray-green square grid with coordinates.

Bruce Green

Mild mannered. Sometimes disassociated. Plays cribbage with Don Gately. Has a child with former love Mildred Bonk. Good listener who at one point offers his ear to Randy Lenz during late night walks. Avoids Polynesian nuts.

Kate Gompert

Recovering marijuana addict and severe depressive. Calls her depression “It”. Joined Ennet House after her fourth stint in a psych ward where she broke down and cried “for real”. Doesn’t pity herself, but thinks death is the preferable, yet still absolutely terrifying option.

Clenette Henderson

Narrates infamous “Wardine section”. Later becomes resident of Ennet House. Friends with Yolanda Willis. Works a part time cleaner job at the nearby Enfield Tennis Academy.

Randy Lenz

Coke dealer wanted by both sides of the law. OCD tendencies include needing to be north, needing to know the time with exact precision, and having a deep fear of timepieces. Searches for animals during his late night walks home from AA meetings to help him, well, process things.

Emil Minty

Punk smack addict with neo-Nazi tattoos. Pulls pranks and gets up to mischief with Wade McDade. Look out for a possible connection to the gang of degenerate smack addicts.

Eugenio Martinez

(aka Gene M.) Counsellor at Ennet House and Don Gately’s predecessor as live-in-janitor. Calls the disease of addiction “The Spider” which you can either feed or starve. Points out educated residents find it tougher because they identify more with their head which is the headquarters of the disease.

Wade McDade

General trouble maker. Cracks jokes and pulls pranks with Emil Minty and Doony Glynn. Has to wear long sleeve tops at his menial job to cover his tattoos even when it’s stinking hot.

Patricia Montesian

(aka Pat M.) Executive Director of Ennet House. Former resident who finally Surrendered and Came In after suffering a stroke from alcoholism. Says it doesn't matter what you think or believe or say. All that matters is what you do. Gets prospective residents to pat her gross dogs to determine how desperately commited they are.

Burt F Smith

Tragically beaten up by a gang of smack addicts during a cold Xmas eve and left for dead. Survived, not totally intact, losing both his hands and feet to frostbite. Somehow manages to smoke Benson and Hedges causing incessant coughing.

Calvin Thrust

Counsellor at Ennet House who applies a tough love approach. Former NYC porn star. Rumoured to have a tattoo on his “unit”.

Charlotte Treat

Reformed prostitute. Now prim. Potentially addicted to needle pointing. Facial scares, potentially from acne. Dreams of becoming a dental hygienist who specializes in helping kids overcome their fear of anaesthesia.

Ruth van Cleve

Very thin, verging on an African child in a World Vision advertisement. Still retains some sexual allure among men. Has her vinyl purse stolen when out walking with (and annoying) Kate Gompert.

Joelle van Dyne

(aka PGOAT².) Cocaine addict. Former radio host known as Madame Psychosis. Ex-girlfriend of Orin Incandenza. Former actress. Wears a veil as a member of the UHID³. Explains that openly wearing a veil isn’t just because you are ashamed, it’s a way to not feel ashamed of your being ashamed. You no longer hide the fact that you’re hiding.

Yolanda Willis

Friends with Clenette Henderson. Unfortunately stuck with Randy Lenz as her sponsor. Can handle herself in a fight.

Minor characters from Ennet House

Amy J

New girl. Xanax addict. Still wants to be coddled and seen as a victim. Kicked out by Don Gately after missing curfew.

Jennifer Belbin

Needs to appear in court for a bad check issue. Four black teardrop tattoos that look like flies on her face from far away, Randy Lenz points out.

April Cortelyu

Spectrally thin. Ear plugs supplied by Pat M make her brain itch.

Gavin Diehl

Sometimes pulls pranks with trouble makers Doony Glynn, Emil Minty, and Wade McDade.

Johnette Foltz

Young live-in-staffer. Happy to stay late and cover others’ shifts. Has conspicuous piercings and tattoos despite starting laser surgery removal. Weary of upscale kids with no tatts and all their teeth that think they are like better than her and like that, somehow.

Chandler Foss

Possibly in a relationship with April Cortelyu. Dodgy teeth. Becomes a cookware salesman after graduating out of the house.

Nell Gunther

Tough and irascible. Wears a glass eye, sometimes rotating it so the pupil faces inwards. May have (sort of) “poked” another resident with a fork who had been irritatingly scratching the table.

Morris Hanley

Enjoys cooking despite a bandaged hand. Reminds the counsellor that the house should be a safe and nurturing environment.

David Krone

Replaces Chandler Foss. Upscale guy with a family but had a drunken limbo accident so scuttles around Ennet House like a crab.

Didi Neaves

Works part time at Enfield Tennis Academy with Clenette Henderson. Has a white outline tattoo of a skull.

Alfonso Parias-Carbo

Doesn’t speak much English. Scared he can’t quit drugs. Vexed by the double bind of needing to admit you are powerless but being powerless means you can't quit.

Annie Parrot

Assistant Manager to Pat M. Asked Randy Lenz to stop hauling books everywhere. Described Don Gately as “sunlighting on the side” when he heads off to his second job after a gruelling night shift.

Skull

Only lasted four days in the house. A walking exhibition of high regret ink whose effect, Tiny Ewell presumes, is primarily to repel.

Danielle Steenbok

Part time counsellor. Former resident. Covers up her faded eyeliner tattoo with actual eyeliner. Rumoured to be a recovering member of the Sex and Love Addicts group which engages the male residents’ imagination to the max.

Tingley

New kid. Spends most of his time detoxing in the linen closet.

Hester Thrale

Anxious nail biter. Someone Pat M has described as “Borderline”. It cost Tiny Ewell two weeks of chores to be allowed to see her detailed, full-earth tattoo.

1. Big Indestructable Moron

2. Prettiest Girl of All Time

3. Union of the Hideously and Improbably Deformed