On with the Story: Stories [Paperback]

John Barth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997

Using the venerable literary device of the bedtime story, which links fictions as different as The Arabian Nights and Charlotte's Web, John Barth ingeniously interweaves stories from an ongoing, high-spirited but deadly serious nocturnal game of tale-telling by a more or less desperate loving couple vacationing at their "last resort". As Scheherazade spun out her bedtime stories to save her life, the narrator of On with the Story spins out his to postpone The End, and to explore en route - wittily, mournfully, tenderly - love in modern life and postmodern literature. As the narrative cycles through the lifescapes of his subjects' stories, Barth affords a view both panoramic and microscopic of our own landscape. With eye and pen both sharp and beautiful he depicts love ranging from the obsessively puppy through the sophisticatedly fatigued, the delusionally murderous, even the quantum-physical, to the superbly fulfilled.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

John Barth has the paradoxical ability to turn literature on its head in a post-modern sense at the same time he employs a tour-de-force of traditional literary devices. In On with the Story, he tells a story within a story within a collection of short stories. To wit, an affluent and sophisticated retirement age couple is on vacation when the woman receives terrible news about her husband. Is he dying of cancer? Or is that another story? Have they faced death or have they not? With Barth, only the reader can say for sure, having engaged in an experience as unique as it is fascinating. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In novels like the National Book Award-winning Chimera, Barth has displayed an ingenious fusion of postmodern, metafictional narrative style and seductive tales. The deconstructive bent is still firmly intact in this collection of 11 short stories. Unfortunately, the tales told are mostly slim and self-indulgent. Many involve middle-aged to elderly academics or writers as they take vacations to places like Club Med, ponder flirtations with other academics or writers or worry about their careers. It's surprising, since Barth links these tepid pieces with clever interludes in which an unnamed, beach-vacationing couple, who are supposedly reading the stories along with the reader, provide contentious running commentary on them. But the stories themselves are remarkably strained: "And Then One Day..." has Elizabeth, a 40-something novelist, wondering about a possible love affair with her old writing teacher, a man 20 years her senior, filtered through the very male perspective of the chatty, "omniscient" narrator. Another attractive 40-something woman, Alice, is the central character of "On with the Story." While on a plane from Boston to Oregon, she has a friendly conversation with an older man (a writer) sitting next to her; ponders her recent divorce, literature and the stages of being a baby boomer; and reads a story that is, unbeknownst to her, written by her seatmate. It's a pity there aren't more pieces like "Goodbye to the Fruits," in which Barth forgoes his stable of stereotypical characters for a joyous, beautifully written and sometimes hilarious ode to fruit. When he's got a subject worth subjecting to his metafictional gamesmanship, Barth remains a sly, inventive and uniquely talented writer. Rights: Wylie, Aitken & Stone.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 257 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316083593
• ISBN-13: 978-0316083591
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,278,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligently, tightly-drawn short story cycle, August 23, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: On With the Story: Stories (Hardcover)

Barth is truly one of the most intelligent fiction writers inAmerica today. While his recent novels have been a bit too convoluted (and perhaps repetitive), this series of short stories is truly Barth at his best. Of the twelve stories, four are beginnings, four are middles, and four are ends. While each story is, on the surface, about narrative (as is the case with most of BArth's fiction), the stories also touch on the passing and the immortality of love in modern society. It takes some thought to get through this book, but the effort is well-rewarded.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing storytelling, April 27, 2000

By 

roymeo (san francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On with the Story: Stories (Paperback)

the intricate intertwining of these short stories was so good that after finishing I didn't just recommend it to everyone, I bought 25 copies to force on friends so they almost HAD to read it. lots of literary games going on, but not at the expense of the story in general. the main story focus of a married couple, their struggles, and exactly what's wrong with the health of one of them gives these stories a dark edge.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fact or ...?, October 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: On with the Story: Stories (Paperback)

This collection of stories is really a collection of ingenious essays -- on narrative, fiction writing, and stories themselves -- masquerading as fiction. Witty and inventive. Great fun for grad-student aspiring fictioneers.