Spotted: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Where: Green/yellow line, D.C. metro

Who was reading: A youngish man with shortish hair and a lollipopish thing in his mouth (a lollipop). He had a tiny backpack that didn't look like it could even accommodate the tome in his hand.

How far along was he? His place was marked with an index finger, and it looked like he'd read a very respectable 500 pages or so.

But did he have a second finger marking his place in the endnotes? No. So maybe the whole thing was an elaborate fraud.

Is that book really worth it? Dude, I don't know. Lollipop Kid made it 450 pages past my best effort. I will say that Brief Interviews With Hideous Men and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again are two of the best short-story and essay collections, respectively, I've ever read.

You think that kid's seen this bit of fun? This is the first page of Infinite Jest, right? From what I've read , DFW wouldn't have necessarily argued with a lot of these criticisms.

Spotted: The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Where: D.C. metro, Red line

Who was reading: A young woman in an overcoat and a teal scarf.

Did she look kind of like Kaki King , the virtuoso guitarist? A little bit! How did you know?

Lucky guess. Tell me about the book: So apparently it's the story of a dude just sort of tumbling around North America in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, just kind of going wherever the wind takes him. Tumble tumble.

It's actually more complicated than that: Okay, okay. Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky are involved somehow.

Could Trotsky look any more like an affected undergraduate in this picture? Ha ha! In Defense of Marxism? More like In Defense of Being a Tool.

Spotted: Decoded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter

Where: D.C. Metro, red line
Who was reading: A woman with a sensible haircut and an even more sensible gold earring. Presumably there were 2 earrings, but I only saw her in profile.

And what's the deal with that book? It's sort of a memoir and sort of a concordance of Jay-Z's lyrics, unpacking the wordplay, symbolism, and allusions to real-life events.

Do you have a favorite Jay-Z song? Probably D'Evils or Regrets, both from the album "Reasonable Doubt." Because they're both so sad, you know? I guess I'd give the edge to "Regrets"; it has a more interesting beat.

Spotted: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Where: Red-line

Who was reading: A stylish African American woman dressed in all-khaki save for a pair of red patent leather heels and a shiny red alligator handbag.
Can shiny red alligators be found in the wild? Only in Communist countries.

If this book were a tour de force, what would it be equal in scope to? "the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon." (via the publisher)
Amazon-user Jenny calls this: "The Defining book of my 30th year." (read full review)

Spotted: Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Where: D.C. Metro, eastbound Orange line

Who was reading: A young woman with an enormous gym bag and exciting bangs. 
Which edition was it?  Paperback, the one with Elijah Wood and his blue-sky glasses on the cover—looks a heck of a lot like the vintage paperback of Kafka on the Shore. 
That's cool, I guess:  Yeah, but remember the hardcover version with the reversible black-and-white color scheme? Where the front and back were exact mirrors of each other, and the front even had a matching bar code? Remember reading that in high school and thinking it was the coolest thing ever? 
Can I remember any of my high school gym teachers' names? Not a single one. Is that weird?

Spotted: Wearing My Halo Tilted by Stephanie Perry Moore

Where: D.C. Metro, westbound Red line

Who was reading: A young woman with glasses, a hat, and an arrestingly serene expression

What did the hat look like? Zigzag bands of color in the following pattern: cream, wine-red, black, corkboard-gray, slate-blue

If this hat were a snake: Red touches black, so it would not be poisonous.