The Rush for Second Place

William Gaddis (1922-1998) was a master of the American novel who was frequently compared with Joyce, Nabokov, and Pynchon. Two of his novels, J R and A Frolic of His Own, won the National Book Award. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the recipient of a MacArthur Prize. Joseph Tabbi was the first scholar to be given access to the Gaddis archives. He conducts research in American literature and new media writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Joseph Tabbi was the first scholar to be given access to the Gaddis archives. He conducts research in American literature and new media writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Introduction
1. "Stop Player. Joke No. 4" (1951)


2. Agape Agape: The Secret History of the Player Piano (early 1960s)


3. Treatment for a Motion Picture on "Software" (early 1960s)


4. Cover Illustrations from the Corporate Writings (A Selection)
The Growth of American Industry (For the National Association of Manufacturers)
Educational Technology Shapes the Future... Are You Ready? (For the Eastman Kodak Company)
Answers to Cancer (For General Motors/Western Electric)


5. In the Zone (1978)


6. The Rush for Second Place (1981)


7. J R Up to Date (1987)


8. An Instinct for the Dangerous Wife
(Review of More Die of Heartbreak by Saul Bellow, 1987)


9. Erewhon and the Contract with America (1995)


10. Old Foes with New Faces (1995)


11. Occasional Writings
This Above All (1990)
J. Danforth Quayle (1992)
On Creative Writing and the National Endowment for the Arts (1994)


12. Speeches
On Receiving the National Book Award for J R (1975)
How Does the State Imagine? The Willing Suspension of Disbelief (1986)
On Receiving the National Book Award for A Frolic of His Own


13. Tributes
Dostoevski (1996)
Mothers (1996)
Julian Schnabel (1998)


Appendix:
Summary Notes on the Work in Progress (early 1960s)
Player Piano Chronology to 1929
Index