The Letters of William Gaddis: Revised Edition

Synopsis

A revelatory collection of correspondence by the lauded author of titanic American classics such as The Recognitions and J R, shedding light on his staunchly private life.UPDATED WITH OVER TWO DOZEN NEW LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHSNow recognized as one of the giants of postwar American fiction, William Gaddis shunned the spotlight during his life, which makes this collection of his letters a revelation. Beginning in 1930 when Gaddis was at boarding school and ending in September 1998, a few months before his death, these letters function as a kind of autobiography, and also reveal the extent to which he drew upon events in his life for his fiction. Here we see him forging his first novel, The Recognitions (1955), while living in Mexico, fighting in a revolution in Costa Rica, and working in Spain, France, and North Africa. Over the next twenty years he struggles to find time to write the National Book Award–winning J R (1975) amid the complications of work and family; deals with divorce and disillusionment before reviving his career with Carpenter&’s Gothic (1985); then teaches himself enough about the law to produce A Frolic of His Own (1994). Resuming his lifelong obsession with mechanization and the arts, he finishes a last novel, Agapē Agape (published in 2002), as he lies dying.This newly revised edition includes clarifying notes by Gaddis scholar Steven Moore, as well as an afterword by the author&’s daughter, Sarah Gaddis.

Copyright:

2023

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

688 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781681375847

Related ISBNs:

9781681375830

Publisher:

New York Review Books

Date of Addition:

05/09/23

Copyrighted By:

the Estate of William Gaddis

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.

Edited by:

Steven Moore