The author of four truly important novels "The Recognitions" in 1955, "J R" in 1975, "Carpenter s Gothic" in 1985, and "A Frolic of His Own" in 1995 William Gaddis is considered by many literary scholars to be one of the most outstanding novelists of the twentieth century, to be spoken of in the same breath as James Joyce, Robert Musil, and Thomas Pynchon.
"Hints and Guesses: William Gaddis s Fiction of Longing" is the first scholarly work to discuss all four Gaddis novels. While not dismissing the inclination of many scholars to view Gaddis s fiction as postmodern, Christopher Knight...