Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

William Gaddis

Steven Moore

(Literary studies)

Bloomsbury Academic, 2015

Expanded ed

  • : hb
  • : pb

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Note

First ed.: Boston, Mass. : Twayne Publishers, 1989

Bibliography: p. [217]-221

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

In 1989, Steven Moore published the first scholarly study of all three of William Gaddis's novels and since then it has been generally regarded as the best book on this difficult but major writer's work. This revised and expanded edition includes new chapters on the novels Gaddis published after 1989, the National Book Award-winning A Frolic of His Own and the posthumous novella Agape Agape, along with updated introductory and concluding chapters. This introduction offers a clear discussion of all five of Gaddis's novels, providing essential biographical information, two chapters each on his most significant novels, The Recognitions and J R, and a chapter each devoted to his later three novels. A concluding chapter locates his place in American literature and notes his influence on younger writers. Each chapter focuses on the main themes of each novel and discusses the literary techniques Gaddis deployed to dramatize those themes. Since Gaddis is an erudite, allusive novelist, Moore clarifies his references and explains how they enhance his themes.

Table of Contents

  • Preface to the Expanded Edition Preface to the 1989 Edition 1. A Vision of Order 2. The Recognitions: Magic, Myth, and Metaphor 3. The Recognitions: The Self Who Can Do More 4. J R: What America Is All About 5. J R: Empedocles on Valhalla 6. Carpenter's Gothic
  • or, The Ambiguities 7. A Frolic of His Own: Ideas of Order 8. Agape Agape: The Self Who Cannot Do More Bibliography Index

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