The Friday Book

By John Barth

Book Overview

"Whether discussing modernism, postmodernism, semiotics, Homer, Cervantes, Borges, blue crabs or osprey nests, Barth demonstrates an enthusiasm for the life of the mind, a joy in thinking (and in expressing those thoughts) that becomes contagious . . . A

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399129979
• ISBN13: 9780399129971
• Release Date: October 1984
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 281 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

A literary master lets us into his head.

So you're a writer worried about the future of your art? Or you're a reader wondering if you're the last of your breed? Well, here's a book to comfort your soul (and give you a good idea of where to go next). In this, his 1st collection of non-fiction, John Barth, long-considered a master-practitioner of fiction, gives us several dozen essays that should be on the syllabus of any class dealing with the art & craft of writing. As strong a philosopher as he is a storyteller, Barth shows us how his outlook on all things literary has affected his output, especially in the 2 strongest pieces: "The Literature of Exhaustion" & "The Literature of Replenishment." But singling out these 2 essays is like focusing on "Hamlet" and "King Lear" while ignoring the rest of Shakespeare. Like the Bard himself, John Barth is a man whose idea of play is more rigorous & demanding than most people's idea of a career (and what a career he's had!). Here's a book that will make better readers & writers out of all who read it. Oh, and it's funny as hell as well.