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I’m sure most people have seen the news that New York Review Books will release William Gaddis’ first two novels, The Recognitions and J R, this fall. From the Publishers Weekly article: NYRB editor Edwin Frank, asked why the press planned to republish what he called Gaddis’s “two showstopper doorstoppers,” said that the answer was […]
Carpenter’s Gothic by William Gaddis Narrated by Nick Sullivan Published by Tantor Audio Running time 9 hrs 34 minsA few years back I posted a brief note on Nick Sullivan’s narration of two of William Gaddis’ novels. Mr. Sullivan was kind enough to email me that his narration of Gaddis’ Carpenter’s Gothic had just been […]
This isn’t intended as commentary on the book by Collins but some notes on the Naxos audio reading of the novel. I’m not sure why I picked this out at the library but it turned out to be a delight. The cast does a very good job, not just in their narrated character but in […]
I finally finished listening to How to Live, or A life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer and thoroughly enjoyed it. A mix of Montaigne’s biography and review of his works, it made my commute much more pleasurable. Now the only question is what version of the Essays to start […]
I occasionally mention the audiobooks I listen to during my commute and this will be another such post. I’m listening to Sarah Bakewell’s How to Live, or A life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer at the moment and wanted to add to the generally positive remarks I’ve seen on […]
I finally finished the audiobook of William Gaddis’ J R and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it, especially for anyone that has wanted or tried to read it and felt overwhelmed at keeping so many unattributed conversations straight. Narrator Nick Sullivan provides distinctive voices for each character. Think of it as the color-coding Faulkner wanted […]
Thanks again to The Neglected Books Page for last year’s mention of the release of two of William Gaddis’ works, J R and The Recognitions, on audiobook. I have just started listening to J R and I’m captivated by Nick Sullivan’s performance. Oh yes, the book, too. I can’t recommend both of these performances by […]
Reading (or in this case, listening to) Mark Twain proves to be a challenging task for me. I don’t mind the multiple layers of irony and ambiguity…in fact I find that one of his most enjoyable features. There are sublime moments in his writing, such as the passage I quoted in the previous post regarding […]
As I mentioned in a previous post, I found the audiobook version of Life on the Mississippi very enjoyable. Narrator Grover Gardner does a wonderful job of capturing the home-spun charm of Mark Twain’s fictionalized experience with the river. The book has two general storylines—Twain’s training to be a steamboat pilot and his taking a […]
Pauline Maier, Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788 Simon & Schuster, Hardcover, 608 pages ISBN-10: 0684868547 / ISBN-13: 9780684868547 From Simon and Schuster’s page on the book: When the delegates left the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in September 1787, the new Constitution they had written was no more than a proposal. Elected conventions in […]