William Gaddis published only four novels during his lifetime, but with those works he earned himself a reputation as one of America's greatest novelists. Less well known is Gaddis's body of excellent critical writings. Here is a wide range of his original essays, some published for the first time They include: 'Stop Player. Joke No. 4', Gaddis's first national publication and the basis for his projected history of the player piano; the title essay about missed opportunities in America during the past fifty years; and 'Old Foes with New Faces', an examination of the relationship between the writer and the problem of religion. This diverse collection displays the power of an autonomous literary intelligence in an age increasingly dominated by political and religious conservatism.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
"'If you love great American fiction... the forthcoming Gaddis re-releases are a must.' The List; 'Nobody has written noisier books than William Gaddis. When he died in 1998, he left behind four books bursting with human babbie. Often uproariously funny, they capture with sizzling precision... subtie, expansive, intricate, caustically entertaining and resounding with perfectly caught give-away tones and idioms.' Sunday Times"
About the Author
William Gaddis (1922-98) was one of the greatest writers in twentieth-century America. He wrote five novels and won two National Book Awards, for JR (1976) and for A Frolic of His Own (1995). Of his six landmark works, The Recognitions (1955), JR (1975) Carpenter's Gothic (1985) are also available from Atlantic Books.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
WILLIAM CADDIS'S EARLY TREATMENT by unprepared reviewers is well known; perhaps less known is the fact that he wrote a good deal of criticism himself—more than Thomas Pyn-chon so far, more than Don DeLillo or David Markson, and much that approaches the best critical writing by William Gass, Harry Mathews, Joseph McElroy, or Robert Coover. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
WILLIAM CADDIS'S EARLY TREATMENT by unprepared reviewers is well known; perhaps less known is the fact that he wrote a good deal of criticism himself—more than Thomas Pyn-chon so far, more than Don DeLillo or David Markson, and much that approaches the best critical writing by William Gass, Harry Mathews, Joseph McElroy, or Robert Coover. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Antony Eagle
Format:Paperback
Gaddis is a wonderful author, and I was interested to see some of his more minor pieces collected together. But don't follow the recommendation to buy this volume together with Agape Agape and Other Writings; the latter contains the entirety of 'The Rush for Second Place', along with the unfinished final fiction, 'Agape Agape'. In fact the latter is a much better purchase all around; Gaddis' minor pieces really are quite minor, compared with the novels, and not really substantial enough on their own to justify the existence of this volume.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
17 of 22 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay just as an indication of what's bouncing around in
21 Nov 2003
By Gulley Jimson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Gaddis's head, but as essays these are incredibly ineffective. Take the longest piece in this collection - The Rush for Second Place: it pretty much starts out with the conviction that American culture is largely mediocre (revolutionary thought!) and then just lists a whole bunch of things that Gaddis considers stupid and ridiculous. Well, I agree that there's a lot about this country that's stupid and ridiculous, but the last thing I need is a list: I'm not asking for solutions, just an argument - a point - something. An essay: TRY to accomplish something. No one else needs another sputtering catalogue of rage.
The only thing a list is useful for, of course, is exposing you to something (a book, a person) that you may not have heard of before. And the most wonderful discovery that I got out of this book was John Holt and his books. Read him if you haven't already.
As an admirer of Gaddis's fiction, though, which is full of fascinating ideas, this collection was disappointing and even a little dismaying. The early essays contain interesting germs of topics, such as a short piece of writing on the player piano, whose ramifications aren't really developed. Gaddis apparently considered the player piano as a sort of symbol for a culture that wants art without effort, easy mechanized entertainment for the masses - but that's just my incompetent gloss, and I wish that he'd made the effort to put together an argument himself.
And the later work, as I said earlier, is of the scattershot rant variety - even the interesting comparison of Erewhon with the Republican congress of the 90s jumps around and has obviously dated rather badly.
The reason I say this is a little dismaying is that - if an author writing essays has such trouble expressing himself in a coherent fashion - it starts to reflect on his fiction as well. I've read A Frolic of His Own and Carpenter's Gothic - and have stalled out recently, although I hope to start again, on The Recognitions and JR - and although I still find them hilarious satires, I'm starting to doubt the penetration of the thought behind the comedy. Gaddis's imagination is visionary, but I'm starting to feel that - like Dickens - his mind is pretty commonplace. The standard liberal line on politics, for the most part, and moaning about the stupidity of mass culture: maybe he's right, but how dreary it is to be right in such a boring and disorganized fashion.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, the Collected Uncollected Works...
18 Oct 2002
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's good finally to see William Gaddis's "ocassional" writings collected into one volume. For years, the only thing available was the super-rare and thus ridiculously expensive pirate edition, "The Uncollected Works of William Gaddis" published by the so-called Black Moon Press, whoever and wherever they were or weren't. While that underground classic might have had the drop on this legit book, "The Rush For Second Place" is more complete and up to date. Good stuff!
›
Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
