Rush for Second Place : Essays and Occasional Writings

by Gaddis, William (Author); Tabbi, Joseph (Editor/introduction); Tabbi, Joseph (Notes by)

• ISBN13: 9780142002384
• ISBN10: 0142002380
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

William Gaddis published only four novels during his lifetime, but with those works he earned himself a reputation as one of America's greatest novelists. Less well known is Gaddis's body of excellent critical writings. Here is a wide range of his original essays, some published for the first time. From "'Stop Player. Joke No. 4,'" Gaddis's first national publication and the basis for his projected history of the player piano, to the title essay about missed opportunities in America during the past fifty years, to "Old Foes with New Faces," an examination of the relationship between the writer and the problem of religion-this diverse collection displays the power of an autonomous literary intelligence in an age increasingly dominated by political and religious conservatism.

Author Biography

William Gaddis (1922-1998) was the author of four novels, two of which, J R and A Frolic of His Own, won the National Book Award. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the recipient of a MacArthur Prize.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. vii
"Stop Player. Joke No. 4" (1951)	p. 1
Agape Agape: The Secret History of the Player Piano (early 1960s)	p. 6
Treatment for a Motion Picture on "Software" (early 1960s)	p. 14
Cover Illustrations from the Corporate Writings (A Selection)	p. 26
The Growth of American Industry (For the National Association of Manufacturers)	p. 27
Educational Technology Shapes the Future ... Are You Ready? (For the Eastman Kodak Company)	p. 30
Answers to Cancer (For General Motors/Western Electric)	p. 32
In the Zone (1978)	p. 33
The Rush for Second Place (1981)	p. 38
J R Up to Date (1987)	p. 62
An Instinct for the Dangerous Wife (Review of More Die of Heartbreak by Saul Bellow, 1987)	p. 72
Erewhon and the Contract With America (1995)	p. 80
Old Foes with New Faces (1995)	p. 88
Occasional Writings	p. 109
This Above All (1990)	p. 110
J. Danforth Quayle (1992) On Creative Writing and the National	p. 114
Endowment for the Arts (1994)	p. 115
Speeches	p. 120
On Receiving the National Book Award for J R (1975)	p. 122
How Does the State Imagine? The Willing Suspension of Disbelief (1986)	p. 123
On Receiving the National Book Award for A Frolic of His Own (1995)	p. 127
Tributes	p. 132
Dostoevski (1996)	p. 133
Mothers (1996)	p. 135
Julian Schnabel (1998)	p. 137
Appendix	p. 141
Summary Notes on the Work in Progress (early 1960s)	p. 141
Player Piano Chronology to 1929	p. 145
Index	p. 173
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