From one of the most admired essayists and novelists at work today: a new collection of essays—his first since Tests of Time, winner o...
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Feb 05, 2009
It's unfortunate that the term critic often connotes negativity and sniping. What novelist and professor of philosophy William Gass practices in his critical essays is more in the line of learned appreciation or ecstatic advocacy. Though many of these pieces first appeared in other books as forwards, afterwards, and introductions, reviewers feel that A Temple of Texts may be his most cohesive collection yet. Gass's allusions and elaborate metaphors don't make for skimming. But for these willing
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Aug 24, 2008
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No one is better than William H. Gass at communicating the sublime and rapturous excitement of reading. This essayist, novelist and teacher is now in his eighties, and yet he still approaches books as if he were a young man hurrying to a rendezvous with a gorgeous older woman. When Gass describes the diction of Robert Burton or Gertrude Stein, the sentences of John Hawkes or Robert Coover, he shifts constantly between reverent awe and visceral eager More...
No one is better than William H. Gass at communicating the sublime and rapturous excitement of reading. This essayist, novelist and teacher is now in his eighties, and yet he still approaches books as if he were a young man hurrying to a rendezvous with a gorgeous older woman. When Gass describes the diction of Robert Burton or Gertrude Stein, the sentences of John Hawkes or Robert Coover, he shifts constantly between reverent awe and visceral eager More...
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Sep 20, 2011
Tuck
rated it: 
wonderful book of essays about books and literature, but also touches on history, politics, theater, wars, love, hatred, death and more. my Favorite was about William Gaddis "And His Goddamn Books" and also about Robert Coover and also about Stanley Elkin, and Sevevo and Flann O'brien and two connected essays about Rilke. just wonderful, reading this is like taking a pill that makes you forget some of the irritations of recent times like the destruction of public libraries and CIA hit
Jan 18, 2012
William Gass could write the instructions for filling out a 1040 form and they'd be beautiful.
Mar 19, 2008
Tony
rated it: 
I found it odd that I disliked whtat are perhaps Gass's most-straightforward writings. I've always admired his command of language but felt he fell short in terms of developing a narrative. In these essays, he does so for the most part and loses his svengali-like control of the English language.
Jun 30, 2010
Aaron
rated it:
Most of these are "also-ran" essays compared to his other superlative collections of essays, such as "Finding a Form," "Habitations of the Word" or "Fiction and the Figures of Life".
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