The Fiction of William Gass: The Consolation of Language

By Arthur M. Saltzman

The first comprehensive study of the works of William Gass addresses the ex­tensive correlation between the theoreti­cal and fictional works and places Gass at the forefront of contemporary post-realism.

Saltzman argues that contrary to charges of moral, artistic, or even politi­cal turpitude, the innovative fiction of William Gass represents a conscientious effort to contend with indeterminacy through art. In the fiction of Gass and other contemporary writers, the world of the text is a distinct and competitive ad­dition to reality, not a mere description of reality.

Saltzman examines Gass's major fic­tional works, Omensetter's Luck and Willie Masters' Lonesome Wife, the col­lected stories of In the Heart of the Heart of the Country, the extensive novel-in-progress The Tunnel, as well as the essay collections, Fiction and the Figures of Life and The World Within the Word.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0809312085
• ISBN13: 9780809312085
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.5"