book data
11 ratings, 3.09 average rating, 4 reviews
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published
October 7th 2008
by Houghton Mifflin
binding
Hardcover, 176 pages
isbn
0547072481
(isbn13: 9780547072487)
description
From one of our most celebrated masters, a touching, comic, deeply humane collection of linked stories about surprising developments in a gated commun...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 41)
This is a very strong, accessible, and humane Barth text. Don't get me wrong: Barth is up to his usual metafictional tricks here, but it's thrilling to see him handle such unexplored topics (the elderly, retirement communities) with heart and compassion. Barth unflinchingly explores aging, the imminence of bodily failure and decline, and death from the perspectives of characters who will face them in the near future and are, to put it simply, afraid. He also considers the ways in which these cha...more
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Read in September, 2008
John Barth can be a challenge to read, because of his freeform style. This book tends to stay very superficial (or appears to, because of what is not directly said). But I never stopped reading it, even when I had to go back and check on previous mentions of character to clarify one of the chapters. This is unusual for me, since I don't believe I should have to work through/around an author's quirkiness (or his lack of an editor) to find the story. Usually...but this time I did just that.
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Read in October, 2008
Just finished it. Good. Barth seems to be blending his own style and some kind of post modern techniques. It works and the book of short stories is really a weave of a novel. I liked it a lot
Just started it. Haven't read anything by Barth in years. The Sot Weed Factor is the most memorable but I did read several others.
Just started it. Haven't read anything by Barth in years. The Sot Weed Factor is the most memorable but I did read several others.
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Barth can be funny and very dry, but it does seem like he tries Really Hard. I'm sticking with it for now.
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