--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like many authors belonging to that large…" description: "\"“Like many authors belonging to that large and unfortunate caste, “the unjustly neglected”, Whittemore suffers from being an embarrassingly good read. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/edward-whittemore-29242_books_like-many-authors-belonging-to-that-larg_468053.png" --- # Like many authors belonging to that large and unfortunate… ![“Like many authors belonging to that large and unfortunate caste, “the unjustly neglected”, Whittemore suffers from being an embarrassingly good read. He also suffers from a bigger crime, in that he is almost impossible to pigeonhole. Reviewers’ comparisons bounce from Pynchon to Nabokov, Greene to…” quote by Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/edward-whittemore-29242_books_like-many-authors-belonging-to-that-larg_468053.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/edward-whittemore-29242_books_like-many-authors-belonging-to-that-larg_468053.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/edward-whittemore-29242_books_like-many-authors-belonging-to-that-larg_468053.png) > ““Like many authors belonging to that large and unfortunate caste, “the unjustly neglected”, Whittemore suffers from being an embarrassingly good read. He also suffers from a bigger crime, in that he is almost impossible to pigeonhole. Reviewers’ comparisons bounce from Pynchon to Nabokov, Greene to Calvino and Fuentes to Vonnegut, only to hastily assert that he is, of course, very much his own man. Reading Whittemore, I found myself adding my own—a touch of Hesse here, I thought, a dash of Robertson Davies there, yet without what could be termed a debt to either of them. Each new reader will inevitably supply more. So what is it that makes Nile Shadows, and the rest of Whittemore’s works, so infinitely flexible? Are they simply baggy monsters into which one can throw whatever one wants? In a sense they are, and it’s not a criticism to say that Whittemore is probably one of the baggiest writers this century—his books represent that most vain of ambitions and the downfall of more than one literary great: a complete explanation of everything. Nothing less than a unified theory of human history is what Whittemore is after, and it’s a sign of his mettle that he realizes such an ambition is doomed from the start, yet undertakes it anyway.”” [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author’s work defies easy categorization, blending many influences while pursuing an all‑encompassing narrative about human history, yet acknowledges the futility of such ambition. **In simple terms:** Whittemore mixes many styles, aiming for a universal story that he knows will fail. Key Takeaway Embrace breadth, but recognize limits of totalizing narratives. Themes literary ambition genre blending human history creative risk Mood reflective analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - literary criticism - creative writing courses - author interviews Key Concepts intertextuality metafiction universalism Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance ambition with coherence? - When does blending influences dilute originality? A Different Perspective The attempt at a unified theory can become pretentious or incoherent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pynchon/) ## Related quotes > [“Laura thought Bell would have a few things to say to Pynchon. And Laura had a few things to say to Bell, like, How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-l-barkat/laura-thought-bell-would-have-a-few-things-to-say-to-pynchon-and/) [L.L. Barkat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-l-barkat/) > [“Immie put on her sunglasses. “Forrest’s writing a novel.” “What kind of novel?” asked Jule. “A little Samuel Beckett meets Hunter S. Thompson,” said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-lockhart/immie-put-on-her-sunglasses-forrest-s-writing-a-novel-what-kind-of/) [E. Lockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-lockhart/) > [“Well, ring-tailed rutabagas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/well-ring-tailed-rutabagas/) [thomas pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [Thomas Pynchon surely inaugurated or crystallized a new genre in 1963 when he published 'V.' 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These are writers who take... a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-would-say-that-edgar-allan-poe-georges-perec-thomas-pynchon-and/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“...the man simply chooses not to be a public figure, an attitude that resonates on a frequency so out of phase with that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-salm/the-man-simply-chooses-not-to-be-a-public-figure-an-attitude-that/) Arthur Salm ## More by Edward Whittemore > [“This heady mixture of the philosophical and the dramatic runs throughout the book, the one underlying the other, and the result, unlikely though it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/this-heady-mixture-of-the-philosophical-and-the-dramatic-runs/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [“Once again, Whittemore escapes what might be a fatal mistake in another author. 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Our childhood as a race is over and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/so-it-isn-t-true-any-longer-that-we-can-just-create-ourselves-now-we/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [“Yes. Despite the ultimate mystery of the universe there’s still one small truth we can live by. Choice. Never merely to take what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/yes-despite-the-ultimate-mystery-of-the-universe-there-s-still-one/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [“… a night twenty years ago and forever and but a prelude to the century, but a shadow of the far deeper descent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/a-night-twenty-years-ago-and-forever-and-but-a-prelude-to-the-century/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [“Something else apart from this heady fusion draws us in to Nile Shadows, though, and that’s a certain compulsive quality that, as in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/something-else-apart-from-this-heady-fusion-draws-us-in-to-nile/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [“… and just as suddenly he was with Stern and it was a night twenty years ago in a city once called Smyrna, once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/and-just-as-suddenly-he-was-with-stern-and-it-was-a-night-twenty/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [“The real protagonists of the Quartet are surely the parched and beautiful deserts of the biblical lands, with their oases and ruins, and above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/the-real-protagonists-of-the-quartet-are-surely-the-parched-and/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [Why is it the Mongols of this world always tell us they're defending us against the Mongols?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/why-is-it-the-mongols-of-this-world-always-tell-us-they-re-defending/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) [Explore all 18 Edward Whittemore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like many authors belonging to that large and unfortunate caste, “the unjustly neglected”, Whittemore suffers from being an embarrassingly good read. He also suffers from a bigger crime, in that he is almost impossible to pigeonhole. Reviewers’ comparisons bounce from Pynchon to Nabokov, Greene to Calvino and Fuentes to Vonnegut, only to hastily assert that he is, of course, very much his own man. Reading Whittemore, I found myself adding my own—a touch of Hesse here, I thought, a dash of Robertson Davies there, yet without what could be termed a debt to either of them. Each new reader will inevitably supply more. So what is it that makes Nile Shadows, and the rest of Whittemore’s works, so infinitely flexible? Are they simply baggy monsters into which one can throw whatever one wants? In a sense they are, and it’s not a criticism to say that Whittemore is probably one of the baggiest writers this century—his books represent that most vain of ambitions and the downfall of more than one literary great: a complete explanation of everything. 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