In this sequel to Fiction & the Figures of Life, one of America's most brilliant and eclectic minds examines literature, culture, writers (their lives and works), and the nature and uses of language and the written word. Included are discussions of Valéry, Henry Miller, Sartre, Freud, Faulkner, suicide, "art and order," and the transformation of language into poetry and fiction. The vividness and clarity of Gass's writing, the unabashed love and inimitable use of language-his startling metaphors, the sinuousness of his philosophy, the originality of his vision-make each essay a searching revelation of its subject, as well as an example of Gass's own singular artistry.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
William Gass is the author of five books of fiction and five books of essays. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
O I have sailed the seas and come to B . . .,
By Kerosene (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The World Within The Word Essays (Paperback)
At his best, Gass reminds me of Montaigne. While the latter spent much of his time ruminating about Self, Gass essays his verbal prowess to inhabit Word--the logos made flesh. The later Wittgenstein also comes to mind. His seminal short story, "In the Heart of the Heart of the Country," was a tour de force, a literary work which bowled me over with its virtuosity with language. His essays, likewise, show a brilliant mind at work, pursuing obsessively words that make metaphysical of the quotidian.
7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gass's wordplay addiction is indefatigable & unendurable,
By Gooch McCracken (c/o your haunted slab of Velveeta) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The World Within The Word Essays (Paperback)
From THE DOOMED IN THEIR SINKING by William Gass: "My mother managed. She was what we call a dedicated passive ... liquidly acquiescent ... supinely on the go."
Supinely on the go. How I love that phrase. Unfortunately, Gass has an icky addiction to wordplay. He grinds out so much non-stop alliteration & assonance that I really can't blame anyone for hating him. It really is *that* obnoxious.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
Crane went sudden as a springboard. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pleasure from the world, beast language, tender buttons, blind glass, ontological transformation, transparent things, geographical history, more bourgeois, death trip Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Gertrude Stein, New York, Henry James, Monsieur Teste, Three Lives, Malcolm Lowry, United States, Anna Freud, Brother Animal, Edmund Wilson, George Washington, Henry Miller, Random House, Wisconsin Death Trip, Alice Toklas, Allegra Stewart, Basic Books, London Life, New Haven, Paul Roazen, Scientific Psychology, The World Within the Word, Uncle Toby, Victor Tausk, Wallace Stevens New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Crane went sudden as a springboard. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pleasure from the world, beast language, tender buttons, blind glass, ontological transformation, transparent things, geographical history, more bourgeois, death trip Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Gertrude Stein, New York, Henry James, Monsieur Teste, Three Lives, Malcolm Lowry, United States, Anna Freud, Brother Animal, Edmund Wilson, George Washington, Henry Miller, Random House, Wisconsin Death Trip, Alice Toklas, Allegra Stewart, Basic Books, London Life, New Haven, Paul Roazen, Scientific Psychology, The World Within the Word, Uncle Toby, Victor Tausk, Wallace Stevens New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 69
books:
See all 69 books this book cites
35
books
cite this book:
See all 35 books citing this book
- Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein on 9 pages
- Freud And His Followers (Da Capo Series in Science) by Paul Roazen on 5 pages
- Brother Animal: The Story of Freud and Tausk by Paul Roazen on 4 pages
- Three Lives (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Gertrude Stein on 4 pages
- Transparent Things by Vladimir Nabokov on 4 pages
See all 69 books this book cites
- Mocking the Age: The Later Novels of Philip Roth (S U N Y Series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture) by Elaine B. Safer on 6 pages
- Conversations with William H. Gass (Literary Conversations) by Theodore G. Ammon on 4 pages
- Late Postmodernism: American Fiction at the Millennium by Jeremy Green in Back Matter, and Index
- From Modernism to Postmodernism: Concepts and Strategies of Postmodern American Fiction (Postmodern Studies 38) (Textxet Studies in Comparative Literature) by Gerhard Hoffmann on page 598, and Back Matter
- Stein, Bishop, and Rich: Lyrics of Love, War, and Place by Margaret Dickie in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 35 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
