Gaddis, William (1922–1998), born in New York City, after four years at Harvard and much foreign travel published
The Recognitions (1955), a long, elaborate, experimental, satirical novel with settings as diverse as the author's travels, treating a Yankee artist whose original talent is overwhelmed by his career as a copyist of old masters. His second novel,
J R (1975, National Book Award), is again a rich parodic treatment of hypocrisy and corruption. The eponymous hero, a sixth‐grader, amasses a corporate empire, using the telephone and the mails in questionable legality. The novel nimbly satirizes both public education and standard business practices. His third novel,
Carpenter's Gothic (1985), is a far shorter work, less experimental, though employing his trademark disconnective dialogue, and more accessible than the first two. Its themes are the helplessness engendered by dependent love and family disorder.
A Frolic of His Own (1994, National Book Award) is an almost 600‐page novel centering upon the complexities and bafflements of the law, with much technical legal detail. Written in his hallmark disconnected unpunctuated dialogue, the book is yet accessible. Its protagonist is Oscar Crease, a community‐college teacher who sees himself as “the last civilized man.” In trying to hotwire his own car, he has it run him over and injure him, whereupon he spends much effort and time figuring out whom to sue. The book is both harsh and funny.