Infinite Summer #13: Gabe Habash's Take on the Top 10 Characters

I have a bit of a nerd-girl crush on Gabe Habash. It all started innocently enough with his post about reading 55 books in 2011, grew to laughing about his absurd taste in silly books and continues through his nerd love of all things literature. Imagine my surprise when I noticed all these posts he written about IJ, just at the point when my friends and I had decided to make it our summer challenge! I've saved the best for almost last...

Anyway, enough gushing...Gabe has posted on Publisher Weekly's blog, PWxyz, his Top Ten characters in the novel. Here's what he has to say:

One of the many joys of Infinite Jest, made possible because of its tremendous length, is its massive cast of characters. The deeper you go, the more characters you encounter and, as you go even deeper, the intersecting lines between the characters become apparent. Just take a look at this diagram. To celebrate the book’s huge ensemble, we’ve counted down the 10 best characters. For the list, we’re excluding the book’s two “main” characters, Hal and Gately, because they’re given time and consideration that the rest of the characters don’t get, and thus can’t be evaluated in the same way. Be sure to tell us whether you agree of[sic] disagree with our selections in the comments!

Anyway, here's his list
(click on the character name to be taken to an individual post about said character)
10] Barry Loach
9] M. Hugh Steeply (aka Helen)
8] Mrs. Waite
7] Bruce Green
6] Ortho ("The Darkness") Stice
5] Avril Incandenza
4] Joelle van Dyne
3] Michael Pemulis
2] Eric Clipperton
1] Mario Incandenza

Out of the characters listed above who is your favorite? Did he miss someone? Would you rearrange the order? Tell me and then go to his post (linked above) and tell him. Oh, and here's a poll, if you like that sort of thing...goodness knows I do!

Like what Gabe Habash has to say?...follow him on Twitter @gabehabash

Can you believe we're almost finished?!