"A couple of years ago, a well-read colleague of mine referred me to the late William Gass's writings. Since then, I've made it a habit to scan the shelves of every bookstore I happen upon in order to find his very-hard-to-find books. It's akin to finding treasure.
Now, thankfully, his writings can be found in a new, wonderful collection of essays, criticism, commentary, short stories, and novels called The William H. Gass Reader. Far from being dry and boring, Gass' writing will inspire both the novice and seasoned reader to read more, both widely and deeply."
Publisher Vintage
Publication Date 2019-10-08
Section Literary Crit & Biography / All Staff Suggestions / Nonfiction Suggestions / Michael R.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9781101873342
The definitive William Gass collection: this comprehensive volume, curated by the author himself before his death, covers the full span of his highly influential career, sampling from his novels, essays, story collections, and criticism.
Throughout his career, William Gass relentlessly pushed at the boundaries of language, celebrating the music of the sentence and the aesthetics of the written word. Now, the best and most important of his work is collected in one volume. There are essays on Plato, Hobbes, James, Joyce, Beckett, Stein, Gaddis, Sterne, Ford Madox Ford, Thomas Mann. There are pieces that examine the inner workings of writing. There are his masterful short stories, from the perfectly crafted novella “In Camera” to the mythical In the Heart of the Heart of the Country. And there are excerpts from his novels, including his magnum opus, The Tunnel. Taken together, this collection is a peerless celebration of literature—and an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to understand how great writing works.
