"Sorrentino [is] a writer like no other. He's learned, companionable,
ribald, brave, mathematical, at once virtuosic and somehow without ego.
Sorrentino's books break free of the routine that inevitably accompanies
traditional narrative and through a passionate renunciation shine with
an unforgiving, yet cleansing, light."--Jeffrey Eugenides
"For decades, Gilbert Sorrentino has remained a unique figure in our
literature. He reminds us that fiction lives because artists make it.
...To the novel--everyone's novel--Sorrentino brings honor, tradition,
and relentless passion."--Don DeLillo
Borrowing its title from a William Carlos Williams poem, A Strange
Commonplace lays bare the secrets and dreams of characters whose lives
are intertwined by coincidence and necessity, possessions and
experience. Ensnared in a jungle of city streets and suburban bedroom
communities from the boozy 1950s to the culturally vacuous present,
lines blur between families and acquaintances, violence and love, hope
and despair. As fathers try to connect with their children, as writers
struggle for credibility, as wives walk out, and an old man plays
Russian roulette with a deck of cards, their stories resonate with
poignancy and savage humor--familiar, tragic, and cathartic.
Gilbert Sorrentino is the author of more than 30 books, including
Little Casino, finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. A critical and
influential figure in postmodern American literature, he is the
recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships and a Lannan Literary Award. His
frequent appearances on Michael Silverblatt's Bookworm can be heard at
www.kcrw.org. Once an editor at Grove Press, Sorrentino is professor
emeritus at Stanford University and lives in Brooklyn.
