America's Most Critical Journal since 1999
Warning: Sarcastic Spoiler Alerts! The Sun Also Rises An impotent American, a slutty Englishwoman, and their questionable expatriate friends drink and fuck their way around Europe. (For a generation referred to as “lost,” they don’t seem to have much t... More »
by Dan Geddes Hollings’ Works Soldier’s Way (1920) Elmer and Louise (1922) A Green Sled and Other Poems (1923) Son of the South (1928) Share the Land (1931) Call of the Bottle (1937) Paris Nights (1943) (Screenplay) Shrapnel! (1945) One World—Part I ... More »
In “King Pest,” Poe’s understudied story contains a broader critique of the self-serving and autocratic governmental tendencies that Jackson had come to embody in the eyes of his opponents. More »
Thomas Pynchon is one of the most influential and critically revered American novelists of his time. Pynchon’s verbal virtuosity, multi-dimensional erudition, and anarchic sense of humor have earned him the title of “bard of the counterculture.R... More »
By David Alpaugh Millions of contemporary readers are ignoring great books, turned off by titles that strike them as inaccessible, politically incorrect, or hopelessly retro. The classics can remain relevant to the Facebook generation—but only if editors mus... More »
Review by Dan Geddes Note: The first part of this review is for would-be readers and thus contains no spoilers. The second part is further commentary, including spoilers. John Irving would admit that sexual orientation is still an important political issue in ... More »
Henry Miller By Dan Geddes See also review of Miller’s The Air-Conditioned Nightmare Henry Miller is sui generis. It is difficult to place his works in a particular genre, though novels may still be the best category. Some have termed his works “au... More »
New Close Readings of The Crying of Lot 49 By Robert E. Kohn Review by Dan Geddes New Close Readings of The Crying of Lot 49 comprises twelve essays by Robert Kohn, a former economics professor, who turned to literary studies in his retirement. Kohn is ... More »
Thomas Pynchon Review by Dan Geddes 5 January 2010 See also: Inherent Vice (2014) (movie) The Crying of Lot 49, Gravity’s Rainbow, Vineland, Bleeding Edge and Dys, an imaginary Pynchon novel Inherent Vice is a pleasant surprise. After Against the Day’s... More »
Gravity’s Rainbow Thomas Pynchon Essay by Dan Geddes 7 July 2006 Contents Introduction Part 1 – Beyond the Zero Part 2 – Un Perm’ au Casino Hermann Goering Part 3. In the Zone Part 4 – The Counterforce Anarchy Over Monopoly Conclusion Further reading... More »
Review By Dan Geddes See also: Gravity’s Rainbow, Vineland, Inherent Vice, Bleeding Edge and Dys, an imaginary Pynchon novel ___________________ The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon’s second novel, pursues many of the same themes Pynchon explored in hi... More »
The Corrections Jonathan Franzen Review by Dan Geddes See also review of Franzen’s Freedom The Corrections admirably portrays the values of both contemporary American yuppies and their square parents. While the three main characters are well-spoken East ... More »