Yes, and wasn't Henry Roth's second novel, "Memories from a Rough Stream" (I think) a great disappointment? I admired "Call It Sleep" tremendously but was sorry I read the newer book. And he died shortly after it was published. Maybe there's a lesson there for all of us (though I'm not quite sure what it is). Another point: Isn't Pynchon, another novelist I admire greatly, almost as much a recluse as JDS?