LOOP'S PROGRESS A NOVEL

by Chuck Rosenthal

NY 1986 first edition (stated) Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Hardcover octavo. 233p. Fine in Fine DJ. isbn 1-55584-001-9

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Chuck Rosenthal, also known as C.P. Rosenthal, is an American novelist, short story writer, and memoirist whose work spans several decades and genres. Since the 1980s, he has authored a rich body of literary fiction, blending philosophical inquiry with imaginative storytelling. A longtime Professor of English at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Rosenthal is also known for his collaborative work with his wife, the poet Gail Wronsky.
Rosenthal’s bibliography includes the acclaimed Loop Trilogy—Loop’s Progress, Experiments in Life and Deaf, and Loop’s End—as well as a wide range of other novels such as Elena of the Stars, inspired by his daughter Marlena Rosenthal, Jack Kerouac’s Avatar Angel: His Last Novel, and The Heart of Mars. His fiction often explores themes of identity, language, and transcendence, sometimes drawing on iconic literary or mythological figures, as seen in You Can Fly: A Sequel to the Peter Pan Tales and The Legend of La Diosa.
In nonfiction, Rosenthal's memoir Never Let Me Go reflects on personal and familial relationships, while West of Eden and Are We Not There Yet? chronicle life in Los Angeles and travels through South Asia, respectively. His literary voice is both cerebral and playful, deeply philosophical yet grounded in the human experience.
Chuck Rosenthal’s body of work also includes The Shortest Farewells Are the Best, a noir flash fiction collection co-authored with Wronsky, and the speculative Tomorrow You’ll Be One of Us: Sci Fi Poems, further demonstrating his versatility and genre-crossing instincts.
A vibrant voice in contemporary American literature, Rosenthal is as dedicated to teaching and literary exploration as he is to writing, continuing to shape readers and writers alike with his thoughtful, inventive prose.

Reviews

[andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare to look through a used bookshop and not find a single thing. But it was one of those rare days and so I looked through nearly every shelf in the store and I didn't find a single thing that I wanted to read. I decided to leave empty handed. But I noticed a book that just didn't seem to fit. It stood out. I'd never heard of the author. The title, Loop's Progress, was appealing in its strangeness. The cover art was goofy, cartoonish, and on the back was a blurb by (really?) William H. Gass.

But I did that thing that you shouldn't do - I put the book back on the shelf, having already made up my mind to leave empty handed.

I looked up the novel after I got home and didn't find a thing about it. It seemed to have fallen into oblivion.

It made it all the more special, more curious, more hilarious when three years later, a friend and I were at a used bookshop. He found a book, purchased it without showing me what it was, and then, as we walked out, he put the tattered copy of Loop's Progress in my hand and said he bought it for me. He told me to read it. Immediately. And then, when I was done, he'd lend me the other two in the trilogy. I told him that I recognized the book but I ignored it years ago. He told me, without being hyperbolic, that that was possibly the worst decision that I had ever made.

And so I spent a lively and memorable week with Jarvis Loop and his loopy relatives. This family proved to be the quintessential dysfunctional American family. The language is perfect - in particular, Rosenthal has such an exquisite ear for dialogue. The humor is high and low and everywhere in between. His ability to introduce ideas, to play with form and with words - he is, as William H. Gass said when the two first met, the real deal.

Rosenthal's remembrance of Gass is worth reading not just because it's a terrific portrait of the writer, but because it also tells us about Rosenthal.

Each of the Loop Trilogy novels is out of print, sadly. If you happen to find one when you're perusing a used bookshop, don't make the mistake I did - bring it home with you and read it as soon as possible. You'll laugh until your eyes tear up, you'll be convinced that the father (pumping a bowling ball up and down, keeping his arm fit) is one of the most memorable characters you've ever read, you'll recognize all the eccentric neighbors as if they were from your own life, you'll suspect that George Saunders read it, you'll express your bafflement to your family and friends over the lack of Rosenthal's popularity, you'll wonder how these three novels fell out of print and you'll say that if there was any justice in the world, that Rosenthal would be talked about in literary magazines and that the Loop Trilogy would be reissued deservingly and lovingly by a press with as much power as Rosenthal's prose.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical...