TRTR Part 1, Chapter V, Page 169

[Erik T. Burns]

So, foax, we're off to a cocktail party.

But first let's meet Maude & Arny Munk, representative of Nothing. And
the wasteland. And of a deep rooted theme in TR, that of the
"unreproductive" couple.

Babies, having them and not, will feature throughout this section. As
will peoples' heads, less their hands, lost limbs and suicide jokes.

"America is a country of young men," sez Emerson. Gaddis' cocktail
parties not so much.

While there are young men here, the focus seems more on the women,
from sainted Esme to dumpy Hannah to divaesque Agnes Deigh, not to
mention the "queers". (Of course, that's what young men would focus
on, wouldn't they?)

Anyway, Arny & Maude are childless, hoping to adopt but not very
diligence or sober about the process, not to mention sure of their
desire for offspring. Plus they have medico-legal issues that sound
very much like the kind of problems that will really inspire Gaddis in
_A Frolic of His Own_.

There is also a sideswipe at a main worry of the book, the importance
of work and what work means. Arny is a salesman and doesn't seem to
care for his job, Maude certainly doesn't: "Oh, I just wish you got
tired doing something you liked." To which Arny retorts: "--You don't
make a living doing things you like."

There is a brief summary of the chapter at the Gaddis site:
http://williamgaddis.org/recognitions/I5summar.shtml

I plan not to retread the annotations much unless there's something
interesting to add to them; they are brilliant as is & should be used
throughout this read.

As the summary notes, we meet a lot of the book's characters for the
first time here, from Esme and Stanley to Anselm, Ed Feasley and the
oddball Mr. Feddle.

This cocktail party is mirrored in Part II, Chapter VII, on Christmas
Eve, with many of the same characters and a seeming extension of the
conversation, in some cases.

On the radio at the Munks': "When Buddha Smiles."

Here's Paul Whiteman's version from 1921:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dty7JBTlTAI
A-and Benny Goodman's from 1951: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uACWFXRaxAU.