Customer Reviews

The Tongues of Men

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book, and it belongs on the bookshelves of every serious home library. The author was my Fiction Writing advisor at Columbia College Chicago, and guided me through the writing of my first novel, American Skin. After reading this collection, I was eager to work with John, hoping that his absolute mastery of language and story might rub off on me. To me, John's book represents all the best qualities of the best fiction. The stories within are at once subtle and wild, fun and profound, highly accessible yet infinitely complex. In short, it's a book to read, re-read and treasure.

John Shultz is one of the heavyweights of American letters. Though he has achieved acclaim in the fields of pedagogy, creative non-fiction, literary editing and critical theory he is first of all an important writer of serious fiction. "Morgan" should be included on all lists naming the greatest American short stories of the last century. And that's just one of the gems in this collection, which features a startling range of approaches--from wildly surreal to starkly realistic. John Shultz is a living Master of prose. Simply put, this book is a must read.

When I read John Schultz's "The Tongues of Men" nearly forty years ago I was deeply moved and impressed by the power,humor and originality of his writing. I can't think of a single collection of stories I've read that covers a more diverse range of characters and styles than I encountered in this unique book. This week I reread "The Tongues of Men" and today John's stories seem even more inventive, funny and disturbing than they did when I first read them. "Morgan" and "Daley Goes Home" are powerful, raw and brutally honest accounts of what it was like to be a soldier stationed in Korea in the 50's. Both are masterpieces. If Kafka had possessed John's sense of humor he might have written fiction as entertainng as "Custom", one of the funniest and wildest novellas in American literature. "The Offending Party" is as threatening and scary as anything Paul Bowles ever wrote. Once you read this book you will never forget it.