 The definitive work on deception is definitive 30-yrs later, 1999-05-08
Gaddis' masterpiece has been regarded as "impenetrable" since its late 50s publication. Time to revisit it nearly 40-years later. One of it's dozens of themes is a New York art forger who turns out perfect, bogus, "newly discovered" Van Eycks in his loft. The forgeries pass the most intense scrutiny by art- and Van Eyck scholars and are sold for vast sums. The forger and his dealer gradually realize the single flaw: No 20th century person can recreate a 17th century perception.Similarly, no intelligent 1999 reader will recreate the wrong-headed obtuseness of 1950s reviewers. Beside being a masterpiece, Gawd, it's a hilarious skewering of pretentiousness.
 wtf!, 2007-12-06
My order just arrived and I'm shocked! Instead of a proper book, I only received what looks like a laser-printed copy of a mediocre scan. Not even a single blank page at the end. And a flimsy cover printed on 120gr paper! Is this supposed to be the real "Atlantic books" edition? I feel so cheated...
It's good, 1999-08-18
This is an incredible novel for a thirty-year old; the problem is that Gaddis, as a first-timer, tries too hard in spots. The characters are too articulately inarticulate, the mythological references too ostentatiously used, and the mood is sometimes lost when the prose is piled on it. However, it has the subtlest humor and the harshest satire of any American book. Many passages are perfectly pitched, (the scene with Wyatt's breakdown is funny!), and the characters are a bunch of lost souls desperately seeking...something.
Modern American Literature Begins Here, 1999-07-23
absolutely the greatest book i have ever read (and probably the greatest mr. pynchon ever came across too) chock full of erudition, wit, arcane knowledge and pure poetry. reverberations from this behemoth will be felt for years, but only the enlightened will know the source. keep cool but care.
The most important book of the 20th century, 1998-12-31
"The Recognitions" is the most important book of the past 100 years. William Gaddis was America's Joyce, America's Dickens. And too few people know who he is (or was, now). If you've never read him, do, and start here: "The Recognitions" is a big, beautiful, sprawling, hilarious, crazed trip through the world of counterfeiters (this word has myriad meanings in this novel) and groupies. Read it, if only to see how great America's literary tradition could have been if a few more writers had one-quarter Gaddis' courage.
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