William H. Gass has written of Donald Barthelme that he has permanently
enlarged our perception of the possibilities open to short fiction. In
Forty Stories, the companion volume to Sixty Stories, we encounter a
dazzling array of subjects: Paul Klee, Goethe, Captain Blood, modern
courtship, marriage and divorce, armadillos, and other unique
Barthelmean flights of fancy. These pithy, brilliantly acerbic pieces
tangle with the ludicrous, pose questions that remain unresolved, and
challenge familiar bits of language heretofore unexamined. Forty
Stories demonstrates Barthelme's unrivaled ability to surprise, to
stimulate, and to explore.
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