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Further Fridays: Essays, Lectures, and Other Nonfiction, 1984 - 1994
Essays cover a variety of topics, from postmodern fiction and chaos theory to memory, imagination, and the arabesque
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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135 people want to read
About the author
John Barth
76 books797 followersJohn Barth briefly studied "Elementary Theory and Advanced Orchestration" at Juilliard before attending Johns Hopkins University, received a bachelor of arts in 1951 and composed
The Shirt of Nessus
, a thesis for a Magister Artium in 1952.
He served as a professor at Penn State University from 1953. Barth began his career with short The Floating Opera , which deals with suicide, and The End of the Road on controversial topic of abortion. Barth later remarked that these straightforward tales "didn't know they were novels."
The life of Ebenezer Cooke, an actual poet, based a next eight-hundred-page mock epic of the colonization of Maryland of Barth. Northrop Frye called an anatomy, a large, loosely structured work with digressions, distractions, stories, and lists, such as two prostitutes, who exchange lengthy insulting terms. The disillusioned fictional Ebenezer Cooke, repeatedly described as an innocent "poet and virgin" like Candide, sets out a heroic epic and ends up a biting satire.
He moved in 1965 to State University of New York at Buffalo. He visited as professor at Boston University in 1972. He served as professor from 1973 at Johns Hopkins University. He retired in 1995.
The conceit of the university as universe based Giles Goat-Boy , a next speculative fiction of Barth comparable size. A half-goat discovers his humanity as a savior in a story, presented as a computer tape, given to Barth, who denies his work. In the course, Giles carries out all the tasks that Joseph Campbell prescribed in The Hero with a Thousand Faces . Barth meanwhile in the book kept a list of the tasks, taped to his wall.
The even more metafictional Lost in the Funhouse , the short story collection, and Chimera , the novella collection, than their two predecessors foreground the process and present achievements, such as seven nested quotations. In Letters , Barth and the characters of his first six books interact.
Barth meanwhile also pondered and discussed the theoretical problems of fiction, most notably in an essay, "The Literature of Exhaustion," first printed in the Atlantic in 1967, widely considered a statement of "the death of the novel" (compare with Roland Barthes's "The Death of the Author"). Barth has since insisted that he was merely making clear that a particular stage in history was passing, and pointing to possible directions from there. He later (1979) a follow-up essay, "The Literature of Replenishment," to clarify the point.
Barth's fiction continues to maintain a precarious balance between postmodern self-consciousness and wordplay on the one hand, and the sympathetic characterisation and "page-turning" plotting commonly associated with more traditional genres and subgenres of classic and contemporary storytelling.
He served as a professor at Penn State University from 1953. Barth began his career with short The Floating Opera , which deals with suicide, and The End of the Road on controversial topic of abortion. Barth later remarked that these straightforward tales "didn't know they were novels."
The life of Ebenezer Cooke, an actual poet, based a next eight-hundred-page mock epic of the colonization of Maryland of Barth. Northrop Frye called an anatomy, a large, loosely structured work with digressions, distractions, stories, and lists, such as two prostitutes, who exchange lengthy insulting terms. The disillusioned fictional Ebenezer Cooke, repeatedly described as an innocent "poet and virgin" like Candide, sets out a heroic epic and ends up a biting satire.
He moved in 1965 to State University of New York at Buffalo. He visited as professor at Boston University in 1972. He served as professor from 1973 at Johns Hopkins University. He retired in 1995.
The conceit of the university as universe based Giles Goat-Boy , a next speculative fiction of Barth comparable size. A half-goat discovers his humanity as a savior in a story, presented as a computer tape, given to Barth, who denies his work. In the course, Giles carries out all the tasks that Joseph Campbell prescribed in The Hero with a Thousand Faces . Barth meanwhile in the book kept a list of the tasks, taped to his wall.
The even more metafictional Lost in the Funhouse , the short story collection, and Chimera , the novella collection, than their two predecessors foreground the process and present achievements, such as seven nested quotations. In Letters , Barth and the characters of his first six books interact.
Barth meanwhile also pondered and discussed the theoretical problems of fiction, most notably in an essay, "The Literature of Exhaustion," first printed in the Atlantic in 1967, widely considered a statement of "the death of the novel" (compare with Roland Barthes's "The Death of the Author"). Barth has since insisted that he was merely making clear that a particular stage in history was passing, and pointing to possible directions from there. He later (1979) a follow-up essay, "The Literature of Replenishment," to clarify the point.
Barth's fiction continues to maintain a precarious balance between postmodern self-consciousness and wordplay on the one hand, and the sympathetic characterisation and "page-turning" plotting commonly associated with more traditional genres and subgenres of classic and contemporary storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 25, 2015
Success is a tough act to follow, & therefore, sequels always feel the pressure to deliver. Further Fridays: Essays, Lectures, and Other Nonfiction, 1984 - 1994 not only meets the expectations raised by the earlier The Friday Book, it also substantially widens the discourse to take in a whole lot of relevant topics while keeping you totally engrossed in the book.
The credit for that goes partly to Barth's easy-flowing genial style, partly to the erudition that he wears so lightly (but which is not light at all!), & partly to the variety available here.
A look at the ToC will give you the idea:
If you compare that to The Friday Book, the former is richer content-vise,* but Further Fridays is longer (392 pages to Friday Book's 283), thus more in depth covering. Another difference is the time period covered: Barth's first book of nonfiction was "accumulated over thirty years or so of writing, teaching, and teaching writing," whereas Further Fridays covers the years 1984-94, a decade worth of writing.
Structurally, taking cue from Barth's own life; the book revolves around the four cardinal pursuits of writing, reading, thinking, and teaching, but as these are not watertight categories, there's an overlap: reading bleeds into writing, thinking tempers & revises the written material & so on but the main thrust of Further Fridays remains on the topic (in uppercase) Postmodernism: the history of the term & the history of its spirit, of Postmodernist art and postmodern culture, along with the whole nitty gritty of whether it should be hyphenated or not, in upper or lowercase — you know Barth never does things by halves and despite the occasional self-deprecatory "aesthetic theorizing is not my cup of tea," etc, there's a robust dialogue going on here.
Further Fridays revisits some of the topics from the earlier book, showing greater maturity & flexibility from his original positions, as in the essay 'Can It Be Taught?'. For a creative writing professor, Barth was surprisingly wary of the whole idea in topics like 'Praying for Everybody' & 'Doing the Numbers' (Friday Book), now he concedes that writing can be taught & if all students can't become great writers; at least they become better readers!
Not only the essays here can be read as companion pieces to those in the first Friday book, e.g., 'It's a Short Story' goes well with 'Some Reasons Why I Tell the Stories I Tell...', etc, such is their placing here that one essay logically follows another - for example, essay on Minimalism is followed by one on Maximalism. Okay if that seems obvious, how about this — 'A Body of Words' dealing with the need to not confuse fictional truths with literal ones is further bolstered with 'Very Like an Elephant: Reality versus Realism' !
There are some personal essays too:
'The Spanish Connection', shows Pedro Salinas's influence as a teacher on Barth for him to consider writing as a profession, then the proto-postmodernism of Machado de Assis' writings for Barth's first novel, & later on Borges & Márquez's unique & magical aura to further inspire & revitalize his writing.
'Kenosis: "I Think It's Trying to Tell Us Something" ' deals with an aging writer's worry about the possibility of productive years left to him & his decision to get "on with the story".
And if you are interested in knowing about Barth's courtship of his second wife Shelley ( the dedicatee of all his books); then read the very intimate essay called 'Teacher'.
While reading this book, I revisited some of the iconic essays from the first book: 'Literature of Exhaustion', 'Literature of Replenishment', etc.
Further Fridays may lack those instant-recall marquee names, but it's substantial in its own quiet way. The best pieces here are those that provide an interface between his work and theory. Here are some of my picks:
'Postmodernism Revisited': I posted in one of my status updates that Barth is taking a master class, I should qualify that statement that for such an experience you need to first familiarize yourself with the essays 'The Literature of Exhaustion', & 'The Literature of Replenishment'. Barth here provides the context for those essays and reviews his "personal and particular interest in Postmodernism (...) in understanding what's going on around (him): what (his) artistic predecessors, contemporaries, and successors have been and are up to."
'4 1/2 Lectures: The Stuttgart Seminars on Postmodernism, Chaos theory, and the Romantic Arabesque': The discussion is further carried on in these clusters of essays. Barth's vote goes to the theories of Eco, Hayles, & Hassan.**
'It's a Long Story: Maximalism Reconsidered' : Deals with the issues of length & scale in fiction. A must-read for a long reading list for the maximalist reader. Here's a sample: And it goes on name-dropping Raintree County, Miss Macintosh, My Darling, The Tale of Genji, & so on, but the real winner is the footnote on Burton's Melancholy book. Ask NR!
'A Body of Words': the dualism of mind & body, & should fictional characters be taken for real? The essay was okayish till Barth inserted a highly appropriate quote from Gass — that took it to another level!
'Very Like an Elephant: Reality versus Realism' - Barth takes on his critics!
'Borges and I' : Barth, who was never comfortable with the 'short' form of fiction was inspired to think of in new terms after encountering Borges's Ficciones. Here, in this very intimate essay, he recalls his three path-crossings with the Master.
'The Limits of Imagination': Barth arrives at the topic from every imaginable angle!
'Browsing', and 'Ad Lib Libraries...' : are a reader's delight.
"Jack and Jill": An Exegetical Aria: will exasperate most readers. I'm including it here 'cause it highlights the musical side of Barth (he attended Juilliard School) as well as recalling the obsessive quality of his Scheherazade essay 'Don't Count On It'. And there's the twins angle that's very important to Barth's fiction.
'Inconclusion: The Novel in the Next Century': Barth does some crystal gazing regarding the future of the novel.
Overall a delightful interaction with Barth's jovial spirit. It's important for critical insight into Barth's fiction & also as source material on certain aesthetic & literary concerns.
Nabokov says in his introductory essay to 'Lectures on Literature': "There are three points of view from which a writer can be considered: he may be considered as a storyteller, as a teacher, and as an enchanter. A major writer combines these three – storyteller, teacher, enchanter – but it is the enchanter in him that predominates and makes him a major writer."
I think the description fits Barth to a T.
Here's looking forward to 'The Final Fridays' !
*******************************
(*) ToC for 'The Friday Book' :
(**) Umberto Eco, 'Postmodernism, Irony, the Enjoyable' (1983)
N. Katherine Hayles, 'Chaos Bound: Orderly Disorder in Contemporary Literature and Science' (Ithaca NY: Cornell U. Press, 1990)
Ihab Hassan, 'The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Toward a Postmodern Literature' (NY: Oxford U. Press, 1971)
The credit for that goes partly to Barth's easy-flowing genial style, partly to the erudition that he wears so lightly (but which is not light at all!), & partly to the variety available here.
A look at the ToC will give you the idea:
If you compare that to The Friday Book, the former is richer content-vise,* but Further Fridays is longer (392 pages to Friday Book's 283), thus more in depth covering. Another difference is the time period covered: Barth's first book of nonfiction was "accumulated over thirty years or so of writing, teaching, and teaching writing," whereas Further Fridays covers the years 1984-94, a decade worth of writing.
Structurally, taking cue from Barth's own life; the book revolves around the four cardinal pursuits of writing, reading, thinking, and teaching, but as these are not watertight categories, there's an overlap: reading bleeds into writing, thinking tempers & revises the written material & so on but the main thrust of Further Fridays remains on the topic (in uppercase) Postmodernism: the history of the term & the history of its spirit, of Postmodernist art and postmodern culture, along with the whole nitty gritty of whether it should be hyphenated or not, in upper or lowercase — you know Barth never does things by halves and despite the occasional self-deprecatory "aesthetic theorizing is not my cup of tea," etc, there's a robust dialogue going on here.
Further Fridays revisits some of the topics from the earlier book, showing greater maturity & flexibility from his original positions, as in the essay 'Can It Be Taught?'. For a creative writing professor, Barth was surprisingly wary of the whole idea in topics like 'Praying for Everybody' & 'Doing the Numbers' (Friday Book), now he concedes that writing can be taught & if all students can't become great writers; at least they become better readers!
Not only the essays here can be read as companion pieces to those in the first Friday book, e.g., 'It's a Short Story' goes well with 'Some Reasons Why I Tell the Stories I Tell...', etc, such is their placing here that one essay logically follows another - for example, essay on Minimalism is followed by one on Maximalism. Okay if that seems obvious, how about this — 'A Body of Words' dealing with the need to not confuse fictional truths with literal ones is further bolstered with 'Very Like an Elephant: Reality versus Realism' !
There are some personal essays too:
'The Spanish Connection', shows Pedro Salinas's influence as a teacher on Barth for him to consider writing as a profession, then the proto-postmodernism of Machado de Assis' writings for Barth's first novel, & later on Borges & Márquez's unique & magical aura to further inspire & revitalize his writing.
'Kenosis: "I Think It's Trying to Tell Us Something" ' deals with an aging writer's worry about the possibility of productive years left to him & his decision to get "on with the story".
And if you are interested in knowing about Barth's courtship of his second wife Shelley ( the dedicatee of all his books); then read the very intimate essay called 'Teacher'.
While reading this book, I revisited some of the iconic essays from the first book: 'Literature of Exhaustion', 'Literature of Replenishment', etc.
Further Fridays may lack those instant-recall marquee names, but it's substantial in its own quiet way. The best pieces here are those that provide an interface between his work and theory. Here are some of my picks:
'Postmodernism Revisited': I posted in one of my status updates that Barth is taking a master class, I should qualify that statement that for such an experience you need to first familiarize yourself with the essays 'The Literature of Exhaustion', & 'The Literature of Replenishment'. Barth here provides the context for those essays and reviews his "personal and particular interest in Postmodernism (...) in understanding what's going on around (him): what (his) artistic predecessors, contemporaries, and successors have been and are up to."
'4 1/2 Lectures: The Stuttgart Seminars on Postmodernism, Chaos theory, and the Romantic Arabesque': The discussion is further carried on in these clusters of essays. Barth's vote goes to the theories of Eco, Hayles, & Hassan.**
'It's a Long Story: Maximalism Reconsidered' : Deals with the issues of length & scale in fiction. A must-read for a long reading list for the maximalist reader. Here's a sample: And it goes on name-dropping Raintree County, Miss Macintosh, My Darling, The Tale of Genji, & so on, but the real winner is the footnote on Burton's Melancholy book. Ask NR!
'A Body of Words': the dualism of mind & body, & should fictional characters be taken for real? The essay was okayish till Barth inserted a highly appropriate quote from Gass — that took it to another level!
'Very Like an Elephant: Reality versus Realism' - Barth takes on his critics!
'Borges and I' : Barth, who was never comfortable with the 'short' form of fiction was inspired to think of in new terms after encountering Borges's Ficciones. Here, in this very intimate essay, he recalls his three path-crossings with the Master.
'The Limits of Imagination': Barth arrives at the topic from every imaginable angle!
'Browsing', and 'Ad Lib Libraries...' : are a reader's delight.
"Jack and Jill": An Exegetical Aria: will exasperate most readers. I'm including it here 'cause it highlights the musical side of Barth (he attended Juilliard School) as well as recalling the obsessive quality of his Scheherazade essay 'Don't Count On It'. And there's the twins angle that's very important to Barth's fiction.
'Inconclusion: The Novel in the Next Century': Barth does some crystal gazing regarding the future of the novel.
Overall a delightful interaction with Barth's jovial spirit. It's important for critical insight into Barth's fiction & also as source material on certain aesthetic & literary concerns.
Nabokov says in his introductory essay to 'Lectures on Literature': "There are three points of view from which a writer can be considered: he may be considered as a storyteller, as a teacher, and as an enchanter. A major writer combines these three – storyteller, teacher, enchanter – but it is the enchanter in him that predominates and makes him a major writer."
I think the description fits Barth to a T.
Here's looking forward to 'The Final Fridays' !
*******************************
(*) ToC for 'The Friday Book' :
(**) Umberto Eco, 'Postmodernism, Irony, the Enjoyable' (1983)
N. Katherine Hayles, 'Chaos Bound: Orderly Disorder in Contemporary Literature and Science' (Ithaca NY: Cornell U. Press, 1990)
Ihab Hassan, 'The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Toward a Postmodern Literature' (NY: Oxford U. Press, 1971)
to-be-consideread
March 8, 2014One barth/barf/bath is never enough.
August 17, 2019
When visiting my aunt and uncle, who had a home within site of the Chester river, I always hoped to run into John Barth walking along the river, at the docks, or even in Chestertown, but it wasn't meant to be.
This is the only book of non-fiction of his that I have read and I enjoyed the different perspective.
This is the only book of non-fiction of his that I have read and I enjoyed the different perspective.
January 27, 2019
Some of the essays were clearly meant for professional readers and I rarely found those interesting, but the essays written for amateur enthusiasts like me were generally very enjoyable. I particularly liked the last essay, which expressed many of my own thoughts about novels as an art form.
March 9, 2023
A turn of phrase will elicit the wry smile now and again, but strictly for the completist.
Read
December 12, 2013Only a few essays deep and I love it already. Much like David Foster Wallace's essays, I feel like I connect with their sorts of minds even more when they're writing their thoughts out directly instead of hidden in fiction.
About a YEAR later I finally finished. I can't even remember what the first essays were about. Certainly an interesting collection when I'm in the mood for it, but his style is often almost *too* familiar to be engaging. He can't seem to help but write "pretty". He references so many different topics, books/authors, etc, usually without taking any time to explain them, that it can be a bit difficult to keep up with. Probably the number one thing I took from this book was a *long* list of other books to read. A bit challenging and over my head at times, but again, it's really enjoyable and inspiring to basically just read about what he thinks about.
There were *some* that were sort of just obnoxious, like a literary analysis of the Jack and Jill "story". I suppose that's why it took so long - sometimes I was turned off by how LEARN-ED his writing was. Overall, definitely enjoyed it.
About a YEAR later I finally finished. I can't even remember what the first essays were about. Certainly an interesting collection when I'm in the mood for it, but his style is often almost *too* familiar to be engaging. He can't seem to help but write "pretty". He references so many different topics, books/authors, etc, usually without taking any time to explain them, that it can be a bit difficult to keep up with. Probably the number one thing I took from this book was a *long* list of other books to read. A bit challenging and over my head at times, but again, it's really enjoyable and inspiring to basically just read about what he thinks about.
There were *some* that were sort of just obnoxious, like a literary analysis of the Jack and Jill "story". I suppose that's why it took so long - sometimes I was turned off by how LEARN-ED his writing was. Overall, definitely enjoyed it.
October 13, 2013
Although I had read a bit of Barth's fiction, it hadn't occurred to me to chase down his nonfiction until I found this in a used book store. I have kind of a love-meh relationship with Barth's fiction, in that his work is often very rewarding but also often damnably tedious. It turns out that I feel the same way about his nonfiction. He's a little rambly but also at times insightful, and when reading a lot of these pieces, I felt like he'd be great fun to eavesdrop on at a party, though far too erudite and intimidating (though he tends toward self-deprecation) to actually speak to. There are a few gems in this collection, most notably his lectures on chaos theory and the Postmodern.
Read
February 12, 2010Some classic essays in here on teaching creative writing: "Can it Be Taught?" and "It's a Short Story." The last essay, "The Novel in the Next Century," works with a great conceit: Barth delivers "State of the Novel" mock lectures at the University of Macerata, the oldest university in the world, one for 1490, 1590, 1690, 1790, 1890, and 1990. He speculates what he'll say in 2090.
July 13, 2012
Here is a book of essays and lectures on reading and writing by a novelist I really enjoyed during my college years ["The Sot-Weed Factor" is especially good]. John Barth proves to be a genial and learned writer. A few points taken off for a certain repetitiveness that can hinder the enjoyment of collections like these.
January 25, 2008
I'm currently enjoying essays and these by Barth are so gracefully, thoughtfully put together.
Want to read
September 11, 2012What in the hell is up with this cover?
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews