Infinite Jest was originally divided into two parts, like The Broom of the System; the division was abandoned before print.

This is a revision: the same material was reworked in substance between draft and print.

In the manuscript. "Infinite Jest, which in manuscript form was originally divided into two parts in a similar fashion to The Broom of the System"; an early draft carries the handwritten heading "Pt. II open?" (Box 16.5), and two Mario/Hal night-conversation sequences are both titled "Nocturne" (Nocturne 1, Box 16.3; Nocturne 2, Box 16.7) — "which might indicate an early desire to have mirroring sequences on either side of a two-part division"

In the published book. Global

Evidence. A single source reports this. Documented by [hering-ff Ch.2 + nn.25] (firsthand from the containers).

Bears on. This difference bears on the following open questions: the macro-shape: ring, gasket, thematic chapters, dead-center design.

Further notes. Pairs with the titled-units pattern (diff-erdedy-three-protrusions notes): the early book had explicit internal architecture (parts, titled sections) that print erased.