HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

J R (1975)

by William Gaddis

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,3631913,608 (4.21)80
A great masterpiece by William Gaddis, with a new introduction by Rick Moody. Winner of the 1976 National Book Award, J R is a biting satire about the many ways in which capitalism twists the American spirit into something more dangerous, yet pervasive and unassailable. At the center of the novel is a hilarious eleven year old--J R--who with boyish enthusiasm turns a few basic lessons in capitalist principles, coupled with a young boy's lack of conscience, into a massive and exploitative paper empire. The result is one of the funniest and most disturbing stories ever told about the corruption of the American dream.… (more)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 80 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
technical tour-de-force, written entirely in dialog ( )
  lidaskoteina | Feb 2, 2024 |
I didn't read this book i experienced it. It got into my dreams. It is the funniest classic book i have ever read, laugh out loud funny. The settings were indelible. At times it annoyed the hell out of me. There are pages and pages of people talking on and on while someone tries but can't get a word in edgewise. In some ways it is a 700+ page Bob Newhart on the telephone skit.
I don't think it was as hard to read as i have heard. It's like a lot of more modern books if it was a film no one would complain about it being difficult. The difficulty of most modern fiction would even be commented on if it were in a film. People are a lot more sophisticated when it comes to decoding film.
It shines out in the wasteland that is american fiction. One has many more fingers than necessary to count the number of books written in america since this was published that deserve to be read more. ( )
1 vote soraxtm | Apr 9, 2023 |
- Review: https://www.thisissplice.co.uk/2020/10/19/hey-you-listening/
- Video ramble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuwiFeIbPKs

- Group reading on Instagram with @therecognitionsbookclub this October-November.
- Group reading on #BookTwitter with #Gaddis2020 this October-November (thanks, @ReemK10). ( )
  chrisvia | Apr 29, 2021 |
One of my all-time favorites. You have to learn how to read it as you go along. The first half of it I spent wondering why I was putting myself through the torture of it, and the second half I spent belly-laughing. An amazing accomplishment to have written, and a pretty significant one to have read and enjoyed (if I do say so myself).

----

I wrote the above blurb when first adding the book a few years ago. I just reread it for what I believe was my fourth full reading of the book. It's still a marvel, but I found it less thrilling this time through, perhaps because I knew most of the gags already and had less of the "I'm solving a puzzle as I read" feeling that makes the book so fun the first few times through. I found a lot of the repetitiveness tedious this time. It's still among my top favorite books because of the achievement it represents, but I think I'll wait a good long time before reading it again. ( )
  dllh | Jan 6, 2021 |
Gaddis is a challenge. Phenomenal, too. ( )
  MccMichaelR | Jul 23, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
J R is the perfect novel for our new recession-driven world.
 

» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Gaddis, Williamprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Karl, Frederick R.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

A great masterpiece by William Gaddis, with a new introduction by Rick Moody. Winner of the 1976 National Book Award, J R is a biting satire about the many ways in which capitalism twists the American spirit into something more dangerous, yet pervasive and unassailable. At the center of the novel is a hilarious eleven year old--J R--who with boyish enthusiasm turns a few basic lessons in capitalist principles, coupled with a young boy's lack of conscience, into a massive and exploitative paper empire. The result is one of the funniest and most disturbing stories ever told about the corruption of the American dream.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Legacy Library: William Gaddis

William Gaddis has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.

See William Gaddis's legacy profile.

See William Gaddis's author page.

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.21)
0.5 3
1 2
1.5
2 9
2.5
3 12
3.5 4
4 39
4.5 12
5 75

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 202,665,564 books! | Top bar: Always visible