I have this! For as many books as Ms. Gaddis wrote, she's surprisingly (to me, anyway) unknown today. My theory is that unless you had that breakout book or series character, it kinda sorta didn't matter to history how good you were. Again, take Harry Whittington. Hailed in France as one of America's finest *novelists*, no genre intended, his pseudonym Ashley Carter was far better known later in his life.
I tested this yesterday by asking a guy in town if he'd ever heard of John D. MacDonald. He immediately replied yes. I said, "Travis McGee, right?"
"Oh, yeah, love that guy."
"Anything else."
"Did he write more?"
I think, and not just based on this one encounter, that if MacDonald had never written a series, he would be about in the same place as Whittington, Brewer, etc. Which is sad.
Anyway, my Gaddis collection only contains four titles, I think, including this one.
1 comment:
I have this! For as many books as Ms. Gaddis wrote, she's surprisingly (to me, anyway) unknown today. My theory is that unless you had that breakout book or series character, it kinda sorta didn't matter to history how good you were. Again, take Harry Whittington. Hailed in France as one of America's finest *novelists*, no genre intended, his pseudonym Ashley Carter was far better known later in his life.
I tested this yesterday by asking a guy in town if he'd ever heard of John D. MacDonald. He immediately replied yes. I said, "Travis McGee, right?"
"Oh, yeah, love that guy."
"Anything else."
"Did he write more?"
I think, and not just based on this one encounter, that if MacDonald had never written a series, he would be about in the same place as Whittington, Brewer, etc. Which is sad.
Anyway, my Gaddis collection only contains four titles, I think, including this one.
Post a Comment