Interviews With Contemporary Novelists - Hardcover

In a book that will appeal more to scholars than to general readers, 12 contemporary authors discuss the gifts, glory and pain of literature, recent changes in fiction, standards and esthetics, the effect and value of criticism. The book is strongly unified by the presence of a single interviewera Canadian university lecturerwho provides no background information about the novelists, devotes relatively little time and space to their personal lives, and focuses instead on ideas, themes and details of craft. Carlos Fuentes analyzes the centrality of Cervantes, Margaret Drabble the effect of environment on personality, Erica Jong the "mythology of continuation" that expands human consciousness, Toni Morrison the influence of paintings rather than literature on her work, Colin Wilson the basic fact that he is of an optimistic, scientific temperament. Vasily Aksyonov, Julio Cortazar, Robertson Davies, Nadine Gordimer, Mary Gordon, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Elie Wiesel are the other writers included. (October 27
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"When a writer excites and enchants me," says Cooper-Clark in her windy introduction, "I want to breathe the same air, ascend the heights in conversation, and in some small measure follow the creative river to its source." To do so, she poses questions (laden with name droppings) on such topics as the death of the novel, the novelist's reaction to critics and to the latest critical theories, and influences and favorite authorsall of which give the novelists ample excuse to respond with a fine mixture of uplift and blather. Included are the inevitable (and lighthearted) interview with Isaac Bashevis Singer and talks with 11 others, among them Nadine Gordimer, Robertson Davies, Carlos Fuentes, and Julio Cortazar. Amusing reading, but not an essential purchase. Richard Kuczkowski, Dir., Continuing Education, Dominican Coll., Blauvelt, N.Y. Ornstein, Robert. Shakespeare's Comedies: from Roman farce to romantic mystery.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.