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Conversations with Robert Stone
Ever since A Hall of Mirrors depicted the wild side of New Orleans in the 1960s, Robert Stone (1937-2015) has situated novels where America has shattered and the action is at a pitch. In Dog Soldiers, he covered the Vietnam War and drug smuggling. A Flag for Sunrise captured revolutionary discontent in Central America. Children of Light exposed the crass values of Hollywood. Outerbridge Reach depicted how existential angst can lead to a longing for heroic transcendence. The clash of religions in Jerusalem drove Damascus Gate. Traditional town-gown tensions amid twenty-first-century culture wars propelled Death of the Black-Haired Girl.
Stone's reputation rests on his mastery of the craft of fiction. These interviews are replete with insights about the creative process as he responds with disarming honesty to probing questions about his major works. Stone also has fascinating things to say about his remarkable life--a schizophrenic mother, a stint in the navy, his involvement with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, and his presence at the creation of the counterculture. From the publication of A Hall of Mirrors until his death in 2015, Stone was a major figure in American literature.
Stone's reputation rests on his mastery of the craft of fiction. These interviews are replete with insights about the creative process as he responds with disarming honesty to probing questions about his major works. Stone also has fascinating things to say about his remarkable life--a schizophrenic mother, a stint in the navy, his involvement with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, and his presence at the creation of the counterculture. From the publication of A Hall of Mirrors until his death in 2015, Stone was a major figure in American literature.
214 pages, Hardcover
Published November 11, 2016
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 7, 2016
GNAB I received a free electronic copy of this collection of interviews with Robert Stone from Netgalley, the late Robert Stone, and University Press of Mississippi in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for sharing your work with me.
I can count the number of books I could not finish on one hand. Robert Stone's A Hall of Mirrors is at the top of the list and I didn't read his following novels, either. The interviews in this compilation have all of his novels back at the top of my list - of Want to Reads. When I found A Hall of Mirrors too deep and dark and disjointed to finish, I was in my early 20's and decidedly NOT a part of the acid dropping revolutionaries of the '50's and '60's. I have always worked hard, and desperately needed the husband and children that were MY American Dream. No time for play. Now that I am retired and my children are grown, I have a lot more time and patience and understanding of the flower children per say, and I think I will very much enjoy these stories with a very different point of view. Thank you, William Heath, for putting these together. They are eye-opening reviews.
Those interviews that include questions from Prof. Robert Solotaroff are exceptionally presented. I am sorry for all the years I missed out on Robert Stone's work.
Pub date Dec 6, 2016
I can count the number of books I could not finish on one hand. Robert Stone's A Hall of Mirrors is at the top of the list and I didn't read his following novels, either. The interviews in this compilation have all of his novels back at the top of my list - of Want to Reads. When I found A Hall of Mirrors too deep and dark and disjointed to finish, I was in my early 20's and decidedly NOT a part of the acid dropping revolutionaries of the '50's and '60's. I have always worked hard, and desperately needed the husband and children that were MY American Dream. No time for play. Now that I am retired and my children are grown, I have a lot more time and patience and understanding of the flower children per say, and I think I will very much enjoy these stories with a very different point of view. Thank you, William Heath, for putting these together. They are eye-opening reviews.
Those interviews that include questions from Prof. Robert Solotaroff are exceptionally presented. I am sorry for all the years I missed out on Robert Stone's work.
Pub date Dec 6, 2016
Displaying 1 of 1 review