Guest Post, by Matthew Kirkpatrick: A Sentence About a Sentence I Love

He was the only person caught in the collapse, and afterward, most of his work was recovered too, and it is still spoken of, when it is noted, with high regard, though seldom played.
— William Gaddis, the last line of The Recognitions
After finishing a 1000-page book that you wish would keep on going, that you wish you had the time to immediately read again, this is the kind of line you hope for—sad, self-deprecatingly funny and pompous at the same time, beautiful.

Matthew Kirkpatrick’s fiction has appeared in Western Humanities Review, Copper Nickel, Hobart, Action, Yes!, and elsewhere.

John Madera is the author of Nervosities (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024) and Nomad Science (Spuyten Duyvil Press, forthcoming in 2026). His fiction is also published in Conjunctions, Salt Hill, Hobart, The &Now Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing, and many other journals. His poetry is also published in elimae, Sixth Finch, Contrapuntos, and elsewhere. His criticism is published in American Book Review, Bookforum, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Rain Taxi: Review of Books, The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, and many other venues. Recipient of an M.F.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University, two-time New York State Council on the Arts awardee John Madera lives in New York City, where he runs Rhizomatic and manages and edits Big Other.

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