Forty Stories

by Barthelme, Donald; Eggers, Dave

• ISBN13: 9780142437810
• ISBN10: 0142437816
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-25
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

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 Storiesdemonstrates Barthelme’s unrivaled ability to surprise, to stimulate, and to explore.

Author Biography

Donald Barthelme (1931-û1989) was the author of seventeen books and the winner of a National Book Award.

Rick Moody is the author of several books, most recently the memoir The Black Veil.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chablis	p. 1
On the deck	p. 4
The genius	p. 7
Opening	p. 14
Sindbad	p. 18
The explanation	p. 25
Concerning the bodyguard	p. 35
Rif	p. 40
The palace at four a.m.	p. 46
Jaws	p. 53
Conversations with Goethe	p. 57
Affection	p. 60
The new owner	p. 67
Paul Klee	p. 70
Terminus	p. 75
The educational experience	p. 79
Bluebeard	p. 82
Departures	p. 88
Visitors	p. 96
The wound	p. 105
At the Tolstoy Museum	p. 109
The flight of pigeons from the palace	p. 120
A few moments of sleeping and waking	p. 131
The temptation of St. Anthony	p. 139
Sentence	p. 147
Pepperoni	p. 154
Some of us had been threatening our friend Colby	p. 157
Lightning	p. 162
The catechist	p. 171
Porcupines at the university	p. 178
Sakrete	p. 183
Captain Blood	p. 187
110 West Sixty-first Street	p. 193
The film	p. 198
Overnight to many distant cities	p. 206
Construction	p. 211
Letters to the editore	p. 217
Great days	p. 222
The baby	p. 234
January	p. 237
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.