{"product_id":"letters-of-william-gaddis-book-william-gaddis-9781681375830","title":"The Letters of William Gaddis","description":"\u003cb\u003eA revelatory collection of correspondence by the lauded author of titanic American classics such as \u003ci\u003eThe Recognitions\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eJ R,\u003c\/i\u003e shedding light on his staunchly private life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eUPDATED WITH OVER TWO DOZEN NEW LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Now 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, \u003ci\u003eThe Recognitions\u003c\/i\u003e (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 \u003ci\u003eJ R\u003c\/i\u003e (1975) amid the complications of work and family; deals with divorce and disillusionment before reviving his career with \u003ci\u003eCarpenter's Gothic\u003c\/i\u003e (1985); then teaches himself enough about the law to produce \u003ci\u003eA Frolic of His Own\u003c\/i\u003e (1994). Resuming his lifelong obsession with mechanization and the arts, he finishes a last novel, \u003ci\u003eAgapē Agape\u003c\/i\u003e (published in 2002), as he lies dying.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e This newly revised edition includes clarifying notes by Gaddis scholar Steven Moore, as well as an afterword by the author's daughter, Sarah Gaddis.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49745610703121,"sku":"NGR9781681375830","price":37.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49996943819025,"sku":"CIN1681375834G","price":20.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50101402206481,"sku":"GOR013743432","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50296525422865,"sku":"CIN1681375834VG","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1681375834.jpg?v=1751456486","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/letters-of-william-gaddis-book-william-gaddis-9781681375830","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}