#gaddis

[biblioklept]

"Mothers" -- William Gaddis

“Mothers” by William Gaddis When Ralph Waldo Emerson informed—or rather, perhaps, warned us—that we are what our mothers made us, we might dismiss it as received opinion and let it go at that, like the broken clock which is right twice a day, like the self-evident answer contained in Freud’s oft-quoted query “What do women want?” when, as nature’s handmaid, she must want what nature wants which…

[paolobeneforti]

William Gaddis 100° birthday

[mysterioushimachal]

Unveiling the Enchanting Charms of Bara Banghal | Kangra

Are you a traveler seeking an offbeat destination that offers the perfect blend of nature, culture, and adventure? If yes, then Bara Banghal in Himachal Pradesh is the place for you! Located in the picturesque district of Kangra, Bara Banghal is a hidden gem waiting to be explored. In this comprehensive guide, Mysterious Himachal will take you on a journey to discover the enchanting charms of…

[litsnaps]

[quotessentially]

From William Gaddis’s Carpenter's Gothic

[quotespile]

We've had the goddam Ages of Faith, we've had the goddam Age of Reason. This is the Age of Publicity.

William Gaddis, The Recognitions

[jeannereames]

Hello Dr Reames! Do you have recommendations for books about historiography? I really need to understand what it is and how it works

So, the intro book I use in my own undergrad methodology class is this one:

Gaddis, J. L. (2002) The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

He's not an ancient historian, but that doesn't really matter, except that some of the issues unique to ancient history won't be addressed. Still, it's a very good introduction for a reasonable price. You can almost certainly find one used. For something specific to the ancient world, see below.

I have one caveat, and it's kinda a big one. He doesn't much like the social sciences, and repeatedly questions their validity. That bothers me, and I wonder why he's so negative about them? Perhaps he's run into one-too-many historians overusing (or flat misusing) social science tools like a shiny new toy. ;-)

But social science tools are perfectly fine, as long as properly employed. He does point out some of the (very real) issues with them when applied to history...but they're hardly the kiss of death.

For ancient history SPECIFICALLY, I recommend Stan Burstein's recent book on the topic:

Burstein, S.M. (2022) The Essential Greek Historians. Hackett (for Cambridge).

I particularly like it because he doesn't limit himself to "the usual suspects" (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius). They're there, but he moves on and addresses Greek writers well into Roman Imperial times, and uses a variety of sources, including some epigraphic (The Parian Marble, for instance).

This keeps his book from falling into the same problems as Finley's famous The Portable Greek Historians, which did stick to the Usual Suspects (see above). And it's shorter, too!

So there ya go, one "general" book on historiography, and one aimed specifically at ancient history by a towering scholar in the field (and a very nice guy, btw, who's even shorter than me!).

[eucanthos]

Gaddi Torso

Greek marble, 1st c BC. - The Uffizi Galleries

Purchased in 1778 by Grand Duke of Tuscany Peter Leopold from the Gaddi collection, Florence.

The statue is derived from a prototype of the 2nd c BC and, although only the torso is preserved, it is evident that it was originally a Centaur with hands bound behind its back.

Unlike numerous other sculptures, this work was never restored [considered powerful enough in its fragmentary state]

thnx domina-est-in-crimen

https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/torso-of-a-centaur

[sivavakkiyar]

William Gaddis (far right) in Ganja & Hess

[omgthatdress]

Alisha Gaddis really should have learned from Miss Vanjie, hot glue and silk flowers do not a look make.

[weaselandfriends]

After two months, reading slowly (I was focused on editing WIW during this period), I finally finished William Gaddis' The Recognitions. My initial thoughts are that this is one of the best novels I've ever read; possibly in some nebulously-defined top 10. (I don't rate novels the way I do movies.)

I wish I read this before writing Cockatiel x Chameleon. So much of what it has to say about art and the function of art in the modern and postmodern world has bearing on similar themes in CxC. Van Der Gramme could have been one of the (innumerable) characters that dot The Recognition's pages.

If you enjoy 1,000 page dense postmodern epics, I can't recommend this enough.

[pseudo-satisfaction]

[uwmspeccoll]

Steamy Saturday

When former UWM Art professor Leslie Bellavance first approached us 18 years ago with a proposal to donate her collection of nurse romance novels from the 1950s to the early 1970s, we were skeptical. It was true that we already held a significant collection of books documenting the development of American nursing as a profession, but how would steamy romance pulp fiction fit into that? It was this book, Nora Was a Nurse by American romance novelist Peggy Gaddis, published in 1962 by Macfadden Books, that caught our attention, especially the blurb on the front cover: "She thought of herself only as a dedicated nurse until she learned she was also a woman."!

The novel was first published by Arcadia House in 1953, a few years after the end of WWII, with an increase in women entering the workforce and the professions. The idea of women being desexualized by engaging in professional activities, only to be awakened to their true sexual selves by a dawning romance, was a goldmine for understanding common perceptions and stereotypes of women as professionals, especially nurses, in this post-war period. We accepted the entire collection.

In the novel, described as "thrilling reading, growing to an unexpected and satisfying climax" (Yikes!), nurse Nora Courtney falls for the new doctor, Owen Baird, in her adoptive grandfather's small-town practice in Shellville, Georgia. She is outflanked, however, by the charming and dreamy, but ice-hearted and conniving local belle Lily Halstead. Much steam ensues.

But, in accordance with romance novel formulae, Nora wins the heart of her Dr. Baird in the end. When she agrees to marry him, the good doctor experiences "the exaltation of a man who sees the gates to his most cherished private paradise swinging open before his eyes." (Double yikes!).

View other pulp fiction posts.

[melymbrosia]

the best art comes from outrage or revenge

[litsnaps]

[derprah]

Guardians meme dump because it's been a while.