Synopsis
In this spellbinding, utterly unconventional fiction, an aging author who is identified only as Reader contemplates the writing of a novel. As he does, other matters insistently crowd his mind - literary and cultural anecdotes, endless quotations attributed and not, scholarly curiosities - the residue of a lifetime's reading which is apparently all he has to show for his decades on earth. Out of these unlikely yet incontestably fascinating materials - including innumerable details about the madness and calamity in many artists' and writers' lives, the eternal critical affronts, the startling bigotry, the countless suicides - David Markson has created a novel of extraordinary intellectual suggestiveness. But while shoring up Reader's ruins with such fragments, Markson has also managed to electrify his novel with an almost unbearable emotional impact. Where Reader ultimately leads us is shattering.
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About the Author
David Markson's novel Wittgenstein's Mistress was acclaimed by David Foster Wallace as "pretty much the high point of experimental fiction in this country." His other novels, including Reader's Block, Springer's Progress, and Vanishing Point, have expanded this high reputation. His novel The Ballad of Dingus Magee was made into the film Dirty Dingus Magee, which starred Frank Sinatra, and he is also the author of three crime novels. Born in Albany, New York, he has long lived in New York City.
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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Search results for Reader′s Block (American Literature)
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Reader's Block: A Novel
Published by
Dalkey Archive Press, Champaign, IL, 2007
ISBN 10: 1564781321
ISBN 13: 9781564781321
Used
Softcover
Seller: Fahrenheit's Books, Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Softcover. Condition: Very Good. Third printing, trade paperback, has shallow bowing to the covers, mild bumps to the spine ends and cover corners, and a light stain to the head of the text block. Overall, a solid, unmarked, Very Good copy. Seller Inventory # 216313
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Reader's Block
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
paperback. Condition: Good. Seller Inventory # mon0004098593
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Reader's Block
Seller: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Fair. Acceptable condition. Spine cracked. From the collection of American book critic Michael Dirda. Dirda worked as a columnist for The Washington Post from 1978 to 2026 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for his criticism. He has authored two collections of literary criticism and several works on books and reading. Seller Inventory # B13OSa-00096