William Gaddis’ The Recognitions
The introduction to the Dalkey Archive edition of The Recognitions, William Gaddis’ first, longest, and most difficult novel, references a moment when the self-effacing author drew a picture of himself for a collection of essays. Appropriately, he left out the head. In a century that would have no shortage of “invisible novelists” Gaddis was not only … Continue reading
What I’ll be Reading in 2011
What other fairly passive hobby can give more satisfaction than the reading of a book? Really, it is silly to think of it as an accomplishment when you flip the last page. You read something. Most of us read things all day but we hardly feel self-satisfied when putting down a newspaper or magazine. Well, … Continue reading
Book 1.3 If on a winter’s night a traveler
Italo Calvino’s writing gets me thinking about the importance of words, how they can, when treated conscientiously, carry great weight both on their own and in the company of their neighbors. Calvino’s writing is bright and he avoids a lot of highfalutin Latinates. Perhaps this is thanks to William Weaver’s translation, perhaps because Italian has a … Continue reading
Letters Republic 