American Fiction: Volume Seven

$18.95

“Introductory essays almost always indulge in either paraphrase or textual analysis, both of which seem futile at best, corruptive at worst. Why paraphrase a story that will soon unfold in all its detail, completely, lushly, in sentences hard won over many weeks and months by the writer? Why rob a story of its own language? Why undermine a story’s magic, its glowing dramatic immanence, by a cold little summary or any other form of critical reduction? In this introduction, therefore, all I wish to do is celebrate. Dance and cheer. Give you a gentle nudge and point at the horizon and whisper, ‘Look! What a stunning sunset!’ Her are twenty such sunsets.”

—Tim O’Brien from his introduction

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“Introductory essays almost always indulge in either paraphrase or textual analysis, both of which seem futile at best, corruptive at worst. Why paraphrase a story that will soon unfold in all its detail, completely, lushly, in sentences hard won over many weeks and months by the writer? Why rob a story of its own language? Why undermine a story’s magic, its glowing dramatic immanence, by a cold little summary or any other form of critical reduction? In this introduction, therefore, all I wish to do is celebrate. Dance and cheer. Give you a gentle nudge and point at the horizon and whisper, ‘Look! What a stunning sunset!’ Her are twenty such sunsets.”

—Tim O’Brien from his introduction

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