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William Gaddis (December 29, 1922 – December 16, 1998) was an American novelist. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) He wrote five novels, two of which won National Book Awards. The National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States.

Contents

Biography

Gaddis was born in New York City to William Thomas Gaddis, who worked "on Wall Street and in politics," and Edith Gaddis, an executive for the New York Steam Corporation. The City of New York Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. When he was 3, his parents separated and Gaddis was subsequently raised by his mother in Massapequa, Long Island. Massapequa is a hamlet (and a Census-designated place) located in Nassau County New York. Long Island is an island located in southeastern New York, USA, its western shores directly across from Manhattan, from which the island stretches At age 5 he was sent to Merricourt Boarding School in Berlin, Connecticut. Berlin is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. He continued in private school until the eighth grade, after which he returned to Long Island to receive his diploma at Farmingdale High School in 1941. He entered Harvard in 1941 and famously wrote for the Harvard Lampoon (where he eventually served as President), but was asked to leave in 1944, supposedly because of a drunken brawl, though the circumstances are unclear. The Harvard Lampoon is an Undergraduate humor publication and social organization founded in 1876 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts He worked as a fact checker for The New Yorker for two years, then spent five years traveling in Central America, the Caribbean, North Africa, and Paris, returning to the United States in 1951. A fact checker is the person who checks factual assertions in Non-fictional text usually intended for publication in a periodical, to determine their veracity The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

His first novel, The Recognitions, appeared in 1955. The Recognitions is a 1955 novel by American William Gaddis. It is widely praised and also known for its complexity A lengthy, complex, and allusive work, it had to wait to find its audience. Newspaper reviewers considered it overly intellectual, overwritten, and perhaps on the principle of omne ignotum per obscaenum ("all that is unknown appears obscene"), filthy. (The book was defended by Jack Green in a series of broadsheets blasting the critics; the series was collected later under the title Fire the Bastards!) Shortly after the publication of The Recognitions, Gaddis married his first wife, Patricia Black, who would give birth to his only children, Sarah and Matthew.

Gaddis then turned to public relations work and the making of documentary films to support himself and his family. Public relations (PR is the practice of managing the flow of Information between an Organization and its Publics Public relations - often referred In this role he worked for Pfizer, Eastman Kodak, IBM, and the United States Army, among others. Pfizer Incorporated ( is a major Pharmaceutical company, which ranks number one in the world in sales Eastman Kodak Company ( is an American multinational Public company which produces imaging and photographic materials and equipment International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. He also received a National Institute of Arts and Letters grant, a Rockefeller grant, and two National Endowment for the Arts grants, all of which helped him write his second novel. The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member organization whose goal is to "foster assist and sustain excellence" in American Literature, The Rockefeller Foundation (RF is a prominent Philanthropic organization and Private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue New York City. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA is a United States federally funded and donation assisted program that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence In 1975 he published J R, a work even more difficult than The Recognitions, told almost entirely in dialogue, where it is sometimes difficult to determine which character is speaking. J R is a novel by William Gaddis. Published in 1975 by Alfred A Its eponymous protagonist, an 11-year-old, learns enough about the stock market from a class field trip to build a financial empire of his own. Critical opinion had caught up with him, and the book won the National Book Award for Fiction. The National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States. His marriage to his second wife, Judith Thompson, dissolved shortly after J R was published. By the late 1970s, Gaddis had entered into a relationship with Muriel Oxenberg Murphy, and they lived together until the mid-1990s.

Carpenter's Gothic (1985) offered a shorter and more accessible picture of Gaddis's sardonic worldview. Carpenter's Gothic is the title of the third novel by William Gaddis, published in 1985 by Viking. Instead of struggling against misanthropy (as in The Recognitions) or reluctantly giving ground to it (as in JR), Carpenter's Gothic wallows in it. The continual litigation that was a theme in that book becomes the central theme and plot device in A Frolic of His Own (1994)--which earned him his second National Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction--where it seems that everyone is suing someone. A frolic of his own is a phrase used by the judges in the case Joel v The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC to promote the finest books and reviews published in There is even a Japanese car called the Sosumi. (Gaddis has never been afraid of the pun. There is a character in The Recognitions named Recktall Brown. )

Gaddis died of prostate cancer on December 16, 1998, but not before creating his final work, Agapē Agape (the first word of the title is the Greek agapē, meaning divine, unconditional love), which was published in 2002, a novella in the form of the last words of a character similar but not identical to his creator. Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Agapē Agape is a novel by William Gaddis. Published posthumously in 2002 by Viking with an afterward by Joseph Tabbi, Agapē Agape Agapē (ˈægəpiː ( Gk αγάπη) is one of several Greek words translated into English as love. The Rush for Second Place, published at the same time, collected most of Gaddis's previously published nonfiction. The Rush for Second Place is a posthumous collection of essays by William Gaddis.

After years of critical neglect, Gaddis is now often acknowledged as being one of the greatest of American post-war novelists. His influence is vast (although frequently subterranean): for example, postmodern authors such as Don DeLillo and Thomas Pynchon seem to have been influenced by Gaddis, as well as authors such as Joseph McElroy, William Gass, David Markson, Jonathan Franzen, and David Foster Wallace, who have all stated their admiration for Gaddis in general and The Recognitions in particular. Don DeLillo (born November 20 1936 is an American author best known for his Novels which paint detailed portraits of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr (born May 8 1937 is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of Fiction. Joseph McElroy (born 1930 in Brooklyn New York) is an American novelist William Howard Gass (born July 30, 1924) is an American Novelist Short story writer Essayist Critic, and former David Markson is an American author born in Albany New York in 1927 Jonathan Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an award-winning American Novelist and Essayist Early life and education David Foster Wallace (February 21 1962&ndashSeptember 12 2008 was an American author of novels, Essays and short-stories

Gaddis has received the following awards and honorary positions: the MacArthur Foundation’s "genius award" (1982), election to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1989), and the Lannan Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement (1993). The John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation is a major private grant -making Private foundation based in Chicago that has awarded more than US$4 billion The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member organization whose goal is to "foster assist and sustain excellence" in American Literature, His life and work are the subject of a comprehensive website, The Gaddis Annotations, which has been noted in at least one academic journal as a superior example of scholarship using new media resources. New media is a term meant to encompass the emergence of Digital, Computerized or Networked information and communication technologies [1] Gaddis's papers are collected at Washington University in St. Louis.

Works

See also

References

  1. ^ Erik Grayson. The Recognitions is a 1955 novel by American William Gaddis. It is widely praised and also known for its complexity The year 1955 in literature involved some significant events and new books J R is a novel by William Gaddis. Published in 1975 by Alfred A The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books Carpenter's Gothic is the title of the third novel by William Gaddis, published in 1985 by Viking. The year 1985 in literature involved some significant events and new books A frolic of his own is a phrase used by the judges in the case Joel v The year 1994 in literature involved some significant events and new books Agapē Agape is a novel by William Gaddis. Published posthumously in 2002 by Viking with an afterward by Joseph Tabbi, Agapē Agape The Rush for Second Place is a posthumous collection of essays by William Gaddis. This is a list of Novelists from the United States, listed with titles of a major work for each "The Gaddis Annotations. " Modern Language Studies 35. 2 (Fall 2005). 107-109.

External links


Persondata
NAME Gaddis, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Novelist
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Manhattan, New York City, New York
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1998
PLACE OF DEATH
Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York The City of New York New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar)
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