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William Gaddis, "The Last of Something"

Critical Essays

Crystal Alberts editor Christopher Leise editor Birger Vanwesenbeeck editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc

Published:27th Oct '09

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

William Gaddis, "The Last of Something" cover

For many years novelist William Gaddis, despite having won two National Book Critics Circle Awards and a MacArthur Foundation's "genius award," suffered from commercial and critical neglect. However, Gaddis has more recently experienced a resurgence in his popularity among both groups and is now considered one of the strongest American novelists. This collection of essays explores the interrelation between Gaddis's writing and the culture that helped to engender it. The essays cover such topics as technique, genre, religion, art, economics, colonialism and the role played by Gaddis's own travels through Europe and North Africa.

“This solid collection adds to the growing debate on Gaddis’s literary heritage...recommended”—Choice; “an enjoyable and essential book for Gaddis scholars”—Tate Publishing; “a significant contribution to Gaddis scholarship, the articulate and erudite essays in this collection chart the ways in which Gaddis’s novel systems engage with diverse disciplines, including religion, art, politics, philosophy, economics, geography, language, and literature. Taken as a whole, this anthology increases our understanding of the myriad traditions from which Gaddis’s fictions emerge and encourages readers to seriously consider the formidable influence of Gaddis’s innovative art.”—Trey Strecker, Ball State University

ISBN: 9780786443093

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 11mm

Weight: 308g

216 pages