Synopses & Reviews
From the acclaimed John Barth, one of the greatest novelists of our time (Washington Post Book World) and a master of language (Chicago Sun-Times), comes a lively triad of tales that delight in the many possibilities of language and its users.
The first novella, Tell Me, explores a callow undergraduate's initiation into the mysteries of sex, death, and the Heroic Cycle. The second novella, I've Been Told, traces no less than the history of storytelling and examines innocence and modernity, ignorance and self-consciousness. And the three elderly sisters of the third novella, As I Was Saying . . ., record an oral history of their youthful muse-like services to (and servicings of) a subsequently notorious and now mysteriously vanished novelist.
Sexy, humorous, and brimming with Barth's deep intelligence and playful irreverence, Where Three Roads Meet will surely delight loyal fans and draw new ones.
John Barth is the author of numerous works of fiction, including The Sot-Weed Factor, The Tidewater Tales, Lost in the Funhouse, The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor, the National Book Award winner Chimera, and most recently The Book of Ten Nights and a Night. He taught for many years in the writing program at Johns Hopkins University.
Teller, tale, torrid . . . inspiration: Barth's seventeenth book brings these three narrative 'roads' together inimitably, and thrice. Where Three Roads Meet employs all of his familiar devices -- alliteration, shifts in diction and time, puns -- to tease and titillate, while at the same time articulate -- obliquely, sadly, angrily, gloriously -- a farewell to language and its objects: us. -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
Review
"Employs all of his familiar devices...to tease and titillate, while at the same time articulate -- obliquely, sadly, angrily, gloriously."
Review
"[Where Three Roads Meet] will stretch your mind, challenge your thoughts, and bend your reality."
Review
"Employs all of his familiar devices...to tease and titillate, while at the same time articulate -- obliquely, sadly, angrily, gloriously." Publishers Weekly, Starred
"The master of experimental fiction...cleverly exposes the artifice not only behind this book but behind the tales we make up for ourselves every day." Details
"[Where Three Roads Meet] will stretch your mind, challenge your thoughts, and bend your reality." Charlotte Observer
"Dazzling...a welcome reawakening to the possibilities of the art of narrative." Bookpage
Synopsis
Exploring the themes of heroism, sex, and death, a trio of novellas by the critically acclaimed author of Chimera includes "Tell Me," about a young undergraduate's initiation into the mysteries of love, life, and the Heroic Cycle; "I've Been Told," which traces the history of storytelling; and "As I Was Saying," in which three elderly sisters record their services for a notorious and missing novelist. Reprint.
Synopsis
The first novella, "Tell Me," explores a callow undergraduate's initiation into the mysteries of sex, death, and the Heroic Cycle. The second novella, "I've Been Told," traces no less than the history of storytelling and examines innocence and modernity, ignorance and self-consciousness. And the three elderly sisters of the third novella, "As I Was Saying . . . ," record an oral history of their youthful muse-like services to (and servicings of) a subsequently notorious and now mysteriously vanished novelist.
Sexy, humorous, and brimming with Barth's deep intelligence and playful irreverence, Where Three Roads Meet will surely delight loyal fans and draw new ones.
Synopsis
This playful and jazzy triad about fateful threesomes provides an engagingly postmodern commentary on the art of storytelling, classic mythology, and literature. The first novella explores a callow undergraduates initiation into the mysteries of sex, death, and the Heroic Cycle. The wandering hero of the next tale finds an all-too-familiar road made new by some provocative traveling companions. And the three sisters of the third piece recall their youthful days of muselike services to (and scandalous servicing of) a mysteriously vanished famous novelist. These three sexy novellas prove once again that Barth is "one of the best we have when it comes to getting to the heart of the story" (Rocky Mountain News).
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.