Synopses & Reviews
In a novelistic romp that is by turns hilarious and brilliant, John Barth, the dean of postmodern fiction, spoofs his own place in the pantheon of contemporary fiction and the generation of writers who have followed in the wake of his literary trailblazing.
Barth's first novel in ten years, COMING SOON!!! is the tale of two writers: an older, retiring novelist setting out to write his last work and a young, aspiring writer of hypertext intent on toppling his master. Inspired by a gently sinking showboat replica called The Original Floating Opera II, grounded on a shoal somewhere in Chesapeake Bay as a hurricane (and Y2K) approaches, they race each other to write a novel about a floating opera -- a reprise of the fictional mentor's first novel, of Barth's own first novel, of Edna Ferber's literary monument Show Boat and its spawn of musicals and films. In the heat of their rivalry, the writers navigate, and sometimes stumble over, the cultural fault lines between print and electronic fiction, mentor and mentee, postmodernism and modernism.
At a time of intense renewed interest in postmodernism, COMING SOON!!! spotlights its legacy with the wit and irreverence that mark Barth as one of our most highly regarded writers. It is an extraordinary addition to, and a playful riff on, Barth's oeuvre, a series of books that have shaped contemporary literature.
Review
"Devotees of literary postmodernism may feel compelled to read every word generated by one of its pioneers, John Barth. That's why the best part of Coming Soon!!! Barth's latest "narrative," as he vaguely labels it in a subtitle is on page 344, where the aging master promises to write no more....In addition to being such a relief, that passage is actually comprehensible, unlike vast portions of the rest of the book." Nan Goldberg, The Atlantic Monthly (read the entire Atlantic Monthly review)
Synopsis
In this novelistic romp that is by turns hilarious and brilliant, John Barth spoofs his own place in the pantheon of contemporary fiction and the generation of writers who have followed his literary trailblazing. Coming Soon!!! is the tale of two writers: an older, retiring novelist setting out to write his last work and a young, aspiring writer of hypertext intent on toppling his master. In the heat of their rivalry, the writers navigate, and sometimes stumble over, the cultural fault lines between print and electronic fiction, mentor and mentee, postmodernism and modernism.
About the Author
JOHN BARTH's fiction has won the National Book Award, the PEN/Malamud Award, and the Lannan Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. For many years he taught in the writing seminars at John Hopkins University. He is the author of such seminal works as The Sot-Weed Factor, Chimera (for which he won the NBA), and Giles Goat-Boy.
Table of Contents
YOU ARE HERE: Its tentative Menu
Its title page, title, subtitle: COMING SOON!!! A Narrative iii Its copyright info, ISBN, whatever iv Its dedication: for Shelly v Its disclaimers and acknowledgments vi YOU ARE HERE: Its tentative Menu vii Its opening mini-icon: Read Me 1 Its qualified recommendation of the more or less qualified Novelist Aspirant” by the presumably still qualified Ditto Emeritus” 9 Its Applicant Authors more or less Personal Statement 16 Its Applicant Authors aforepromised Writing Sample, or, just possibly, It!: COMING SOON!!! The Novel? 25 Its draft orientation session: Is There a Gee Dash Dee? 27 A quiver of q.v.s. Its prospective players: A Cast of Several 41
Its possible First Part: Part I? Its fresh false start: 1.1 Commencement 53 Ditto, but from an Emerital” point of view: 1.2 Same Old Story 57 Its tripartite second chapter: 2.1 Detour after all . . . 68 2.2 Coming Soon!? 81 2.3 Ontological Lunchbreak: Novelists Only 93
Its Second Part!: Part II: 19951999 1995.1 109 1995.2 148 1995.3 205 Its Entracte: The Millennium Bug 243 1999 260
Its End Time: Parts III: The Ends A: The Emerital” Version 333 B! The Aspirant Version! 346 Its closing mini-icon: Read Me? 376