«“A festive series of literary and intellectual forays by the ever groundbreaking Frank Lentricchia. Through all the comings and goings, we sense the presence of a very agile authorial mind as it takes stock of itself.”—R.W.B. Lewis»

«“In Lucchesi and The Whale, with a daring that verges on recklessness, Frank Lentricchia closes the traditional gaps dividing critical practice from creative writing. One has encountered intertextuality before; this is something more adventurous: inter-genre. Only a great literary critic could pull off the fictional tricks on display here. The ambition of this remarkable work is summed up in one of the hero-narrator’s Melvillean instructions: ‘A word to my students: live like a no-holds-barred autobiography of yourself, hide nothing, so that you'll be free for serious writing.’ This is very serious writing.”—John Sutherland, University College London»