Gass articles harpers magazine nov, 1999 article in defense of the book why books are good on the enduring pleasures of paper, type, page, and ink when ben jonson was a small boy, his tutor, william camden, persuaded him of the virtue of keeping a commonplace book. May 04, 2014 william gass was appointed to a distinguished professorship at washington university, st. A free gift for the william gass completist common reader. In defense of the book why books are good the evergreen state.
Gass fiction has been a secret handshake among brainy readers for years. Gass is celebrating the virtues of electronic publication, which is. Gass reader hardcover november 6, 2018 by william h. Nov 14, 2018 the tunnel is the proof that demonstrates gasss ideas about fiction, which he explained in detail and at length in the essays and criticism that so many praise and refined repeatedly in his novels and stories, and william frederick kohler, the narrator of the book, is the mind gass created that lives within its covers. William gass is a novelist, essayist, philosopher, and teacher. Gasss essay from that catalog was included in the book, as was his memorial for. There are general encomiums to the writers and readers art. A temple of texts kindle edition by gass, william h.
Gasss new novel, middle c, is likely to strike most readers as less dependent on language games, but such an impression would ultimately be only superficial, based on the novels fewer explicit graphical flourishes. In defense of the book, harpers, november 1999 shears of the censor, harpers, april 1997. The flaw in this analogy is that you cannot step up into the air and consider the hedge maze from above, whereas i kept removing myself from the flow of gasss argument to puzzle out what he just said. Covers, shown here, are printed silkscreen on uncoated boards, bound by the printerpublisher with japanese silk cloth. Prizes, surprises and consolation prizes may 5, 1985 in this depreciation of literary awards, gass writes, the pulitzer prize in fiction takes dead aim at mediocrity and almost never misses.
Louis, on 1 june 1979, the day this interview was conducted. Dec 17, 2018 there is ephemera, such as the washington university club of houstons invitation to a 1999 gass lecture, in defense of the book. Gass papers contain a complete printout draft of a temple of texts, as well as memories of master gaddis. The tunnel conceitthe tunnel is an authorial conceit on the part of william h gass as well as his protagonist, william f. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven volumes of essays, three of which have won national book. Rising tempers at a writers meeting february 2, 1986. William howard gass july 30, 1924 december 7, 2017 was an american novelist, shortstory writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor.
If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Gass was a professor of philosophy at washington university. These books gained william gass the reputation of a postmodern writer indulging in verbal tricks and games. Gass wrote a defining essay on the value of real, pulpandprint booksa defense of the. Prizes, surprises and consolation prizes may 5, 1985 in this depreciation of literary awards, gass writes, the pulitzer prize in fiction takes dead aim at mediocrity and. For me a book tends to exist in a metaphorical relationship to a building. Apr 10, 2006 or, as gass writes in this collections a defense of the book, a book is a bike. William h gass the novelist, critic and philosopher is a difficult read but even at 91 he is able to create novellas of startling beauty, as in his latest work eyes.
A revised version of this speech was included in the book of essays entitled habitations of the word, which won the national book critics circle award in 1985. William gass on 12 of the most important books in his life. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Gass, william howard 1924 gass is an american novelist, short story writer, philosopher, and essayist. Fiction and the figures of life 9780879232542 by gass, william h and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven volumes of essays, three of which have won national book critics circle award prizes and one of which, a temple of texts 2006, won the truman capote. The new william gass reader celebrates the great essayist and philosopherbut its gasss fictions that will stand the test of time. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven volumes of essays, three of which have won national book critics circle award prizes and one of which, a. There are no magic words, said william gass in his seminal.
It was started sometime after 1998, with a first excerpt appearing in 2001. William gass, one of the worlds most acclaimed writers and criticsand, of course, a longtime st. The novel tells the story and concerns of joseph skizzen, whose father got the family out of austria in 1938, pretending to be jewish, then disappeared in london. He has been the recipient of the first pennabokov award, the penspielvogeldiamonstein award for the art of the essay, three national book critics circle awards for criticism, a lannan foundation lifetime achievement award, the award for fiction and the medal of merit for fiction from the academy and. Against the odds, william gass, a tortured man in the attic, has empowered himself to write scripture in an unredemptive time. Gass, no stranger to such conjuration, has practiced his own brand of experimental, decadent, and richly complex literary bewitchment for nearly half a century. Buy a cheap copy of fiction and the figures of life book by william h. Gasss book is the most important and bracing theoretical study i know of.
For me architecture represents best the basic metaphorical image of the way a text exists, say, metaphorically or philosophically janssens 66. Reading rilke is an ambitious book, but one of the things it does not attempt is to situate rilke historically. A temple of texts collects a variety of william gass writings on literature from the. Louis start with a reminder that wash u was founded by the grandfather of ts eliot. A temple of texts collects a variety of william gass writings on literature from the past quarter of a century though most of the pieces are relatively recent. Gasss work can be found at this site by searching gass. Kohlers introduction to his major work on world war ii, guilt and innocence in hitlers germany, the. In santa fe, new mexico, during the fall of 2004, william h. A native of the midwest, gass is professor emeritus of humanities at washington university in st.
Modernisms last gasp and the architecture of william h. Thirty years in the making, william gasss second novel first appeared. Gass s 1995 novel that took 26 years to write and earned him the american book award of 1996. It was also a finalist for the penfaulkner award the tunnel is the work of william frederick kohler, a professor of history at an unnamed university in the american midwest. A champion of the book takes to the ipad the new york times. There are five sections of this essay that are illuminated by the printers initial letters. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Gass offers the fledgling writeror any writer, periodnumerous insights toward the construction of meaningful, emotionally resonant, and. Gass has structured his piece into five main sections. Dec 07, 2017 william howard gass was born in fargo, n. You travel under your own power and proceed at your own pace, your riding is silent and will not pollute, no one is endangered by your journeynot frightened, maimed, or killedand the exercise is good for you. Gass essayist, novelist, literary criticwas born in fargo, north dakota. There is ephemera, such as the washington university club of houstons invitation to a 1999 gass lecture, in defense of the book.
William howard gass july 30, 1924 december 6, 2017 was an american novelist, shortstory writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor. The new william gass reader celebrates the great essayist and philosopher but its. When he was six weeks old his father moved the family to warren, ohio. He is the author of seven works of fiction and nine books of essays, including life sentences, a temple of texts, and tests of time, and was a professor of philosophy at washington university. Astronomers recorded, in the ophiuchus galaxy cluster, the largest known postbig bang explosion, which lasted several hundred million years and created a void of fifteen galactic widths in the plasma around the clusters central black hole.
In 2001, ken botnick of washington university designed two limited edition books of the essay, in defense of the book, both available in the special collections. There are no magic words, said william gass in his seminal collection the world within the word. The essayist, novelist, and critic took listeners through eight of what he called his writerly preoccupationsmetaphoring and preaching among themand read passages from several of his books to illustrate his points. Gass explains how books and libraries are essential to humans, and that a book is more than just pages filled with words. Gass, one of the nations most esteemed writers of literature and criticism, died of congestive heart failure on wednesday dec. He is the author of seven works of fiction, nine books of essays, and a book of conversations. Jun 08, 2014 in fiction and the figures of life, william h.
Although this book is a bit unfocused at timeparticularly in gass meandering discussion of the history of the spectaclethere are still extraordinary essays on rilke, gaddis, rodin, as well are more abstract commentaries on the nature of evil. St louis postdispatch the us author william h gass, who explored the boundaries of fiction in novels such as the tunnel and. Gass, whose books include cartesian sonata, the tunnel, and omensetters luck, received the lannan lifetime achievement award in 1997. This book, by the estimable critic and novelist william gass, is a worthy companion to its authors several prizewinning essay collections such as the world within the word and tests of time. Gassessayist, novelist, literary criticwas born in fargo, north dakota. Jan 09, 2018 instead of recognizing old twists and turns, i found the book to be like a hedge maze that, embarrassingly, i was lost in for a second time. The protagonist of william gasss middle c is a fraudulent academic who obsessively catalogs the worlds evils in the inhumanity museum in his attic. The introductory essay is almost perfect as gass sings the praises of multiplicity, contradiction and polyphony in literature, urging readers to become. Twentyfour essays by the modern master of literary criticism, ranging from discussion of gertrude stein and jorge luis borges to henry james and the evil. He does not explicitly advocate this kind of maximalism until the end of the book, but he tacitly endorses it along the way through maximalism of other kinds. The following entry presents an overview of gasss career through 1998.
Mar 31, 20 the protagonist of william gasss middle c is a fraudulent academic who obsessively catalogs the worlds evils in the inhumanity museum in his attic. St louis postdispatch the us author william h gass, who explored the boundaries of fiction in novels such as the tunnel and omensetters luck, has died at the age of 93. Its probably best to abandon any preconceptions of what it might mean when you enter either tunnel as a reader. Fiction and the figures of life gass, william h on. Gass 1924 full name william howard gass american novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. William gass was appointed to a distinguished professorship at washington university, st.
Gasss criticism, in the best tradition of eloquence, wit, and passion, is a defense of poesy in a. Critics universally adored the tunnel, his 1995 opus, even though. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Devotees of the oldfashioned printed book who are distressed by the onrushing digital future and there are more of them out there than you might think cherish william h. Gass wrote a defining essay on the value of real, pulpandprint booksa defense of the book. The metaphorical tunnel doesnt represent an escape route out of anywhere, nor does it represent a method. The tunnel is an authorial conceit on the part of william h gass as well as his protagonist, william f. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. Despite his argument that the function of the writer is to create. Limited edition, printed letterpress from photopolymer plates. William gass at the 2010 national book critics circle awards, where he received the ivan sandrof lifetime achievement award. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. An experimentalist, gass works out his philosophical and literary theories in both the.
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