Letters - Softcover

Barth, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449900908 ISBN 13: 9780449900901

Publisher: Fawcett Books, 1982

Synopsis

The letters of seven people, including a British gentlewoman who finds herself pregnant by her young American lover and a bachelor lawyer who enjoys incest on his final cruise in preparation for suicide, take readers on a journey through history

About this title

Review

"A work of genius." --? "New York Times Book Review"

"A work of genius." --?"New York Times Book Review"

"A landmark!... A prodigious and quite remarkable achievement." --?"Washington Post Book World"

"A testament to Barth's tremendous talent and wit.... A treasure for those who delight in Barth's dazzling and unparalleled ingenuity." --?"Publishers Weekly"

From the Back Cover

A landmark of postmodern American fiction, Letters is (as the subtitle genially informs us) "an old time epistolary novel by seven fictitious drolls & dreamers each of which imagines himself factual". Seven characters (including the Author himself) exchange a novel's worth of letters during a 7-month period in 1969, a time of revolution that recalls the U.S.'s first revolution in the 18th century - the heyday of the epistolary novel. Recapitulating American history as well as the plots of his first six novels, Barth's seventh novel is a witty and profound exploration of the nature of revolution and renewal, rebellion and reenactment, at both the private and public levels. It is also an ingenious meditation on the genre of the novel itself, recycling an older form to explore new directions, new possibilities for the novel.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fawcett Books
• Publication date: 1982
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0449900908
• ISBN 13: 9780449900901
• Binding: Paperback