J R by William Gaddis

Paperback, 784 pages
Published 2020 by NYRB Classics (first published 1975)
ISBN: 9781681374680

My J R review for Splice:

Online annotations for J R:

Books used for this video:
- Beer, John. “William Gaddis.” The Review of Contemporary Fiction, vol. XXI, no. 3, 2001.

- Comnes, Gregory. The Ethics of Indeterminacy in the Novels of William Gaddis. Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 1994.

- LeClair, Tom. The Art of Excess. Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 1989.

- McElroy, Joseph. “Gaddis Dialogue Questioned.” Paper Empire, edited by Joseph Tabbi and Rone Shavers, University of Alabama Press, 2007.

- Moore, Steven. William Gaddis: Expanded Edition. New York, Bloomsbury Academic, 2015.

- Spenser, Nicholas. “Critical Mimesis.” Paper Empire, edited by Joseph Tabbi and Rone Shavers, University of Alabama Press, 2007.

#leafbyleaf #booktube #bookreview #literature #williamgaddis #nyrb #jr

[OttoIncandenza]

Chris I really can’t express how much your videos mean to me. During quarantine it is tough to meet with people to discuss books at the depth at which you do so having you do these so regularly, especially at a pretty rough period in my own personal life really reinvigorates me and reminds me of what I love in life. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[Dorakskel]

Loved this. It makes me so happy that William Gaddis is being talked about in this capacity. When I read The Recognitions it seemed criminal to me just how overlooked he is. To me he really transcends the tropes of modernism and post-modernism and really shines through as something truly special and unique in the world of literature.

Thank you for doing what you do, I'm so excited for the video on The Recognitions.

[jrphilbrook]

Hey Chris! I absolutely love your channel, old friend. Your passion for literature is so infectious.

[alvisinger]

A wonderful review, I’m glad I stuck with him despite initial difficulties. A moral of the book seems to be that the norms of a chaotic business / financial system are taking over more and more of American society (art, education, family life, politics etc.) and subverting higher cultural / human values. Against this, I feel your channel has taken up the mantle to spread deeper cultural awareness and encourage us all to become better readers / humans. Thank you for all your hard work. 😊🙏

[tinysalmon]

Finally was able to commit and made it through JR last week. What an unreal experience. You give great voice to the novel, and your criticism, as always, adds heaps to my enjoyment of the text. Thanks so much for doing what you do!

[siege]

Started reading JR this week. Thank you so much for this video!

[NTBid]

Wonderful review! I just finished the book a week ago so it was nice to hear affirmation as to why I loved it so much.

[estebanmejia]

Perfect video 🖤, I was dying to watch this review and the wait was worth it. I also LOVED your written review, thanks a lot for this, man.

[hihihihittt]

If it hadn't been for you I wouldn't have read JR and The Recognitions. I love love LOVE your reviews. Excellent work; keep it up. and THANK YOU

[EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

Fantastic! This books is a RIOT and one of the most enjoyable reading experiences of my life. So cinematic and overrun with individuals who have it 'figured out' and actually know very little. I love the boy JR.
Wonderful resources here, I will dig in when I complete my reading.

[therepublicofbadtaste]

Hey Chris, great review as always. I appreciated both the summary of critical understandings as well as your own thoughts. And, in particular, you urging folks to just dive-in. Gaddis (among others like McElroy) are unfortunately stymied by lack of coverage and, where coverage does exist, an undue emphasis on difficulty. Good on you for helping to dispel the myth.

[jameshumphries]

So well done..JR is the next big book on my TBR list after I finish The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas..thanks for all the effort you put into your videos.

[levitybooks]

I remember taking The Recognitions out of the library a couple of years ago, spending 20 minutes trying to figure out who was who on the first page, and then closing it like 'Nope! Well at least I have something to look forwards to in a decade or so!' Your reviews are going to help me when I recover my bravery!

[yahuahlove]

Clearly, Chris you really have great insights on JR, well done. Over the years, I have the books, JR & Recognitions, will read them again with your literary knowledge and understanding, many thanks.

[danlinder]

Great show, great book, great library and a neat typer to boot! Keep up the good work!

[tannercoggins]

I liked how Bast seemed to be an interruption of the term 'bastard'. In order to create any art of his own that has no price he would have to have no patrilineal claim to an American inheritance.

[word]

Love how Gaddis feels like he is angrier in each subsequent novel. A Frolic of His Own and Carpenter’s Gothic are great but JR is my favorite novel of his. Probably due to my own experience in corporate America.

[alexschmidt]

I just had to come back and comment here because I don't know where else to say this where anyone might understand, but reading "JR" for the first time in the midst of this Reddit/GameStop stock debacle is just so perfect that I don't know what to do. I really feel lucky to be reading it right now.

[alexschmidt]

I recently started it for the first time. Got to ~pg110 today and the style just, like, unlocked in this indescribable way. Now there's this need to get back to reading it. Its going to be one of those book, i can already tell.

[chris-hjqd]

Gaddis tells us twice within the first 25 pages what it's all about:Here, here! We must have Order! Order!
Yet Chaos is the basic Reality. So Order can only be a thin, perilous condition we foist onto Reality.
And foist we must in this book. Gaddis challenges us to organize the chaos of JR. And if we can manage that, perhaps we can manage the more complex Chaos of life. Or maybe that's just a naïve hope.