See also:
Other character illustrations:
My essays on Infinite Jest: On double binds; On recursion.
My book club podcast episode on DFW’s Brief Interviews.
No big spoilers.
Knows Joelle
Molly Notkin
Friend of Joelle. Pre-doctoral Film Theory student at MIT. Party host. Messy. Owns a Karl Marx dress up.
Student Engineer
Sound engineer for WYYY radio station Madame Psychosis program. Doesn’t take the elevator. Student at MIT.
Knows Poor Tony
yrstruly
Leads a crew of punk smack addicts. Bad speller.
Poor Tony Krause
Cross dresser. Purse snatcher. Desperate drug addict. Wears a red leather jacket and feather boa.
C
(ie Bobby C.) Heroin addict. Enjoys violence. Part of yrstruly’s crew.
Dr Wo
Drug dealer based in Chinatown. 100% business and ice cold all the way down. Connected big time and not to get over on.
Front-Contre-O.N.A.N.isme
Cash job offer to act as decoys for a getaway in Harvard Square. Characters involved were drug addicts Tony Krause, Lolasister, Susan T. Cheese, Bridget Tenderhole, Equus Reese, and the late Stokely ('Dark Star') McNair.
Matty Pemulis
Older brother of Michael Pemulis. Troubled background. Prostitute.
Roy Tony
Other
Guy Who Didn’t Even Use His First Name
Founded Ennet House. Ex-con. Ex-alcoholic. Definitely not called Ennet.
Help Lady
Retired air force nurse. Alzheimer’s patient at Unit 4, The Shed, next to Ennet House. Constantly calls out for help from her window. Pranked with a “help wanted” sign by McDade and Minty.
Grief Therapist
Therapist for Hal after his (Hal’s) father died. Hides his small hands under his desk.
Kevin Bain
Older brother of Marlon Bain. Attends an Inner Infant meeting where he is seen by Hal.
Harv
(aka Big Harv.) Leads the Inner Infant meeting that Hal accidentally attends.
Medical Attache
Medical attache for Prince Q__. Part Saudi, part Quebecer. Receives a mysterious brown package marked Happy Anniversary with a film cartridge in it.
Knows Bruce Green
Mildred Bonk
Ex-partner of Bruce Green. Lived with Tommy Doocey. Former high school beauty. Drug-addict.
Tommy Doocey
Deals drugs. Bad cocaine but good weed. Lives in a trailer. Fancied Mildred Bonk.
Film / TV
Cosgrove Watt
Leading man in many of James Incadenza’s films, including Various Small Flames, Cage II, and Cage III.
Tawni Kondo
Aerobics guru. Host of popular tv show.
Knows Gately
Assistant D.A.
Victim of Gately’s burglary. Believer in the Revenge-Is-Tastier-Chilled dictum.
Trent Kite
(aka Qua Vadis1.) Don Gately’s burglary accomplice. Grateful Dead fan. Dyed-in-the-wool computer weanie.
Whitey Sorkin
Works as a bookie. Employed Gately and Fackleman as muscle back in the day. Suffers from stress related migraines for which he regularly sees a specialist. Unsure why he’s called Whitey because he has a strong tan from frequent ultra-violight light exposure as esoteric therapy for his headaches.
Gene Fackelmann
(aka Faxter.) Worked for Whitey Sorkin collecting bets as one of his “twin towers” along with Gately. Fan of the painkiller Dilaudid. Has his eye on a quick deal.
Gwendine O’Shay
Green-Cardless. Former I.R.A. Soft-skulled. Sort of distracted-grandmotherly air about her. Administrative aid for Whitey Sorkin.
Pamela Hoffman-Jeep
Ex-girlfriend of Don Gately. Alcoholic. Mostly drunk or hungover.
Sixties Bob
(aka Dr. Robert Monroe.) Cranio-facial pain specialist. Septuagenarian. Wears a Nehru jacket. Worked with Timothy Leary on drug experiments back in the day. Dead head. Collector and trader of shit, mostly from the 60s.
Eighties Bill
Well groomed. Yale alum. Son of Sixties Bob. Bets large sum vigs2 on college hoops.
Glenn Kubitz
Member of the Crocodiles White Flag group. Personally chosen higher power is Satan. Enjoys a wise crack. Refrigeration technician as a day job.
The M.P.
Dates Gately’s mother. Works for a cheese delivery company. Methodically notes down his weights training regime and the number of Heinekens drunken.
Stavros Lobokulas
Employs, and underpays, Gately at his second janitorial job at Shattuck.
Mrs Waite
Gately’s neighbour growing up. Odd woman that most kids were scared of. Baked Gately a cake for his 9th birthday.
Mrs Lopate
Alzheimer’s patient at Unit 4, The Shed. “Objay dart3”. Touches a tree that has light hitting it from the top of the hill.
Latin for “Where are you going?”
Illegal bets.
Gately’s version of “Objet d’art”, what the cops call the Alzheimers residents at Unit 5.