William Gaddis, "The Last of Something" - by Crystal Alberts & Christopher Leise & Birger Vanwesenbeeck (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"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

About the Author

Crystal Alberts is an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota. She serves as the technical editor for the NEH-funded Elizabeth Barrett Browning Project and is a research associate for the Electronic Literature Organization. Christopher Leise is an assistant professor of English at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Birger Vanwesenbeeck is an English professor at SUNY Fredonia in Fredonia, New York.