IN THE HEART OF THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY [Import] [Hardcover]

WILLIAM H. GASS (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jonathan Cape (1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0224615912
• ISBN-13: 978-0224615914
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,876,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars why has this gone out of print, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Heart of the Heart of the Country & Other Stories (Nonpareil Books, #21) (Paperback)

It seems impossible that a collection of stories as ground breaking as these could disappear from the bookshelves, but here it is. I came on to find out about ordering a copy but found the publisher was out! Then let me say, having read it a few times already that while In the Heart of the Heart of the Country gets and deserves much praise in this collection, The Pederson Kid is MASTERFul in its language, pacing and style. Order of Insects also is rumination as short story. I am in love with this book and like your true love, it will always be there.

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please Keep Early Gass in Print, Vote 2, January 18, 2000

By 

Carra R Lane - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Heart of the Heart of the Country & Other Stories (Nonpareil Books, #21) (Paperback)

Early William H. Gass is essential. This fairly straightforward book is early Gass. Gass after Omensetter is a very personal taste. Fame, even the tiny minor academic variety, infects human beings oddly. Gass only had a few stories to tell. This book matters. Please keep the great early Gass alive/available & do not worry much about the later still quite interesting but arrogant blatting.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Mass of Gass, March 4, 2008

By 

Dick Johnson (Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Heart of the Heart of the Country & Other Stories (Nonpareil Books, #21) (Paperback)

This collection of long short stories will not let you relax while you read. As with the other Gass I've read, he wants to make you think deeply. There are no clear cut endings, but these aren't clear cut stories.

The best thing about this edition (ISBN 0879233745) is the preface by Gass himself. I usually save such for reading as an afterword (too many prefaces and introductions have too many spoilers). This can be read first or last, but lets you a little more into his thoughts.

His use of language lets you enjoy stories that wouldn't normally hold your interest.