In the Heart of the Heart of the Country by William H. Gass (Patron-Only Early Access / Ad-Free)
Exploded narratives by a very odd Midwestern genius plumbing forbidden depths of the human experience.
In the Heart of the Heart of the Country - William Gass BOOK REVIEW (YouTube)
Comments (6)
Cheers Cliff. I am in the middle of a big Annie Proulx & Gretel Ehrlich binge this Spring so far. Love the mention. I recently read Close Range, the short story book Brokeback Mountain first appeared in. She's just so good. Ehrlich is also just on another level. The 'series' of the her books Heart Mountain and Drinking Dry Clouds are an incredible feat and truly worth the read. I think about it often. Her book The Solace of Open Spaces is like a non-fiction essay version of Annie Proulx's "Close Range".
Excellent - I'll plan to read Eherlich too! Thanks for the recommendations. Yeah 'Close Range' is the one I had my eye on, I'll make sure to review that eventually.
His book Omensetter’s Luck is unbelievably beautiful and moving. I totally bounced off The Tunnel after 200 pages. But Omensetter is worth reading. Less postmodern, more just modern ala Faulkner. But with prose like crystal daggers and ice flows.
I wholeheartedly agree – Omensetter’s Luck is a world apart from his later novels (and shocking to imagine it was a complete rewrite after the original manuscript was stolen.) The Tunnel, sadly, lead nowhere however finessed Gass' metaphors may have proved. Although, this review reminds me I must read his essays sometime.
This was such a delight. I wonder if you would like to read The Tunnel one day.
Yes! Hell yeah. This book (and writer), man. The best. You HAVE to get "The World in the Word," Cliff.