With these audacious and murderously witty stories, Donald Barthelme threw the preoccupations of our time into the literary equivalent of a Cuisinart and served up a gorgeous salad of American culture, high and low. Here are the urban upheavals reimagined as frontier myth; travelogues through countries that might have been created by Kafka; cryptic dialogues that bore down to the bedrock of our longings, dreams, and angsts. Like all of Barthelme's work, the sixty stories collected in this volume are triumphs of language and perception, at once unsettling and irresistible.
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This excellent collection of Donald Barthelme's literary output during the 1960s and 1970s covers the period when the writer came to prominence--producing the stories, satires, parodies, and other formal experiments that altered fiction as we know it--and wrote many of the most beautiful sentences in the English language. Due to the unfortunate discontinuance of many of Barthelme's titles, 60 Stories now stands as one of the broadest overviews of his work, containing selections from eight previously published books, as well as a number of other short works that had been otherwise uncollected.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Review
"Barthelme can focus our feeling into a bright point that can raise a blister. These 60 stories show him inventing at a fever pitch." —The Washington Post
"Donald Barthelme may have influenced the short story in his time as much as Hemingway and O' Hara did in theirs." —The New York Times
"The delight he offers to readers is beyond question, his originality is unmatched." —Los Angeles Times
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
"Donald Barthelme may have influenced the short story in his time as much as Hemingway and O' Hara did in theirs." —The New York Times
"The delight he offers to readers is beyond question, his originality is unmatched." —Los Angeles Times
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is my favorite book to date. The way Barthelme can be both so articulate and non-sensical at the same time shows him to be a master of the human psyche. He notices subtleties that most people encounter but seldom regard as anything relevant, the result evokes a response that leaves one saying to his/herself "why have I not thought of such matters," or "that's so absurd-- the man is a genius". Ever since reading "Critique de la Vie Quotidienne" in a copy of Sadness (picked up off hand at a used book store) I knew that Barthelme was something special. Shame on the people that criticize him for not including the "traditional elements" of fiction!
Format:Paperback
In one of the most typical, poignant, funny, and resounding stories in this collection, Barthelme introduces us to the Balloon Man. For now, it doesn't matter who or what he is, but suffice it to say that he, the Balloon Man, reckons the Balloon of Perhaps is his best balloon. Reading this collection, it's hard not to be struck by the idea that Barthelme's gift lies in, amongst other things, being able to write stories at once featherlight, attractive, and capable of imagining and exploring "perhaps's" no other writer could.
Format:Paperback
A writer who knows his audience and can tap into the contemporary mind with ease, this is a collection that stands out in the latter half of the 20th century. A writer who trives on being enigmatic because he knows that it 1) speaks of modern society, mind, and being, and 2) that his audience wants such a tale to be woven. Highlights include his famous THE SCHOOL, THE FALLING DOG, SHOWER OF GOLD, and THE SERGENT. Watch out of tongue in cheek dark humor.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Emperor Has No Clothes On
There has been a resurgence of interest in Barthelme's work so I thought I'd go back and re-read him. Read more
Published on Aug 5 2001 by Howard Paul Burgess
5.0 out of 5 stars
Donald Barthelme - 60 Stories
In his review of "American Beauty," the New Yorker movie critic David Denby writes, "I can think of no other American movie that sets us tensions with smarty pants... Read more
Published on May 16 2000 by Lucky5152010
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barthelme is one of a kind.
Donald Barthelme is probably the inimitable writer of the twentieth century and this collection is the best way to introduce yourself to his works. Read more
Published on May 11 2000 by Chris Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars
A perfect collection of wonderfully absurd literature
Donald Barthelme was truly a master of the short story. I had to read this book for a project in AP english, and I was very impressed. Read more
Published on Mar 17 2000 by Casey Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars
BETTER THAN A WET LUNCH
This book will change your approach to short fiction. It will also challenge your ideas about the limits of human creativity, eviscerating all of that ridiculous 10%-of-your-brain... Read more
Published on Jan 30 2000
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful and Confounding
This collection is permanently at my bedside for when I can't get to sleep. Not that it puts me to sleep; it usually forces me to stay up another 2 hours while I re-read yet again... Read more
Published on Nov 17 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is an incredible collection of short stories
This collection of short stories contains some of the most original and funny work ever published. This father of post modernism, Barthelme, has a mind like no other. Read more
Published on Dec 13 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny as he wants to be
Barthelme did it all in a very small space. He made you laugh and cry. He pondered deeply: Kierkegard, Schlegel, Sartre. He twisted the most mundane and concocted the most absurd. Read more
Published on Nov 2 1998 by hotrod@sirius.com
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hyperbolically intransigent ancient wisdom.
Donald Barthelme picked up on the love of words for words' sake. Words never in isolation, but rather, immeshed in complex and new ways of knowing.
Published on July 22 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barthelme is a Master
Barthelme's stories are short and spectacular. He is probably the postmodernist (Man, I hate that word, but what else can you call it? Read more
Published on Jan 23 1998 by Abe
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