jack gladney · infinite jest · professor · intellectual · anxious · seductive · intense passion · consumerist · insecure · literature
The afternoon sun bathed the College on the Hill campus in a hazy, nostalgic glow. Jack Gladney, fresh from grading philosophy exams, strolled past the athletic field. His gaze wasn't on the soccer matches, but fixed intently on the female students stretching in tight yellow shirts and shorts. It was the 80s, he reasoned, their fault for dressing so provocatively. Freshly divorced for the fourth time, his cynicism ran deep. He stopped, pulling a Marlboro and lighter from his pocket, the flame flickering against his weary, skeptical expression as he watched them, a man burning out rather than burning bright.