William Gass Reihenfolge der Bücher

Throughout his career, William Gass relentlessly pushed at the boundaries of language, celebrating the music of the sentence and the aesthetics of the written word. Now, the best and most important of his work is collected in one volume. There are essays on Plato, Hobbes, James, Joyce, Beckett, Stein, Gaddis, Sterne, Ford Madox Ford, Thomas Mann. There are pieces that examine the inner workings of writing. There is his masterful short fiction, from the perfectly crafted novella “In Camera” to the mythical “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country.” And there are excerpts from his novels, including his magnum opus,  The Tunnel . Taken together, this collection is a peerless, essential celebration of literature—and an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to understand how great writing works.

The point where an underground spring suddenly bursts to the surface is known as an eye. It is a place of mystery, where dry ground becomes soaked with life-giving water, and nature gives us a glimpse of all that happens out of the realm of human vision. So begins William Gass’s latest collection, with these evocative lines from Jan DeBlieu. What follows are six extraordinary works of fiction: stories and novellas that capture these moments of mystery and explore the hidden philosophical depths of everyday life as only Gass can. “Charity” examines the roles of asking, giving, and receiving through the prism of a young lawyer who offers a simple gift. “In Camera” takes us into a photography shop owner’s incomparable collection of images. “Don’t Even Try, Sam” gives us the voice of the prop piano from Casablanca, and “Soliloquy for a Chair” is narrated by a folding chair in a barbershop that is ultimately fated for destruction. Incisive, darkly funny, formally innovative and linguistically stunning, Eyes is a tour de force of modern fiction.

First published in 1968, In the Heart of the Heart of the Country established William Gass as one of America’s finest and boldest writers of fiction, and nearly fifty years later, the book still stands as a landmark of contemporary fiction. The two novellas and three short stories it contains are all set in the Midwest, and together they offer a mythical reimagining of America’s heartland, with its punishing extremes of heat and cold, its endless spaces and claustrophobic households, its hidden and baffled desires, its lurking threat of violence. Exploring and expanding the limits of the short story, Gass works magic with words, words that are as squirming, regal, and unexpected as the roaches, boys, icicles, neighbors, and neuroses that fill these pages, words that shock, dazzle, illumine, and delight.

On Being Blue is a book about everything blue—sex and sleaze and sadness, among other things—and about everything else. It brings us the world in a word as only William H. Gass, among contemporary American writers, can do. Gass writes: Of the colors, blue and green have the greatest emotional range. Sad reds and melancholy yellows are difficult to turn up. Among the ancient elements, blue occurs everywhere: in ice and water, in the flame as purely as in the flower, overhead and inside caves, covering fruit and oozing out of clay. Although green enlivens the earth and mixes in the ocean, and we find it, copperish, in fire; green air, green skies, are rare. Gray and brown are widely distributed, but there are no joyful swatches of either, or any of exuberant black, sullen pink, or acquiescent orange. Blue is therefore most suitable as the color of interior life. Whether slick light sharp high bright thin quick sour new and cool or low deep sweet dark soft slow smooth heavy old and warm: blue moves easily among them all, and all profoundly qualify our states of feeling.

Dies ist das herausragende literarische Opus von einem der großen Autoren seiner Generation. Ein grandioser Bildungsroman mit musikalischer Grundierung und das kunstvoll komponiertes Porträt eines Angepassten, mit weiten Ausflügen in Politik, Historie, Soziologie, Psychologie und, nicht zuletzt, in die jüngere Musikgeschichte, von Schönberg bis Cage. Die Mittellage ist das eingestrichene C auf dem Klavier, und der mittelmäßige Pianist Joey Skizzen kann es nicht spielen, weil auf seinem Instrument die Taste kaputt ist. Skizzen ist ein kleiner, skurriler Assistenzprofessor für Musik an einer unbedeutenden Universität im Mittleren Westen der USA - erklärter Hypokrit und Menschenfeind, ein Ge- und Vertriebener des Jahrhunderts, dem er angehört: Sein katholischer Vater floh vor den Nazis aus Österreich, indem er sich als Jude ausgab, und ließ die Familie dann in London sitzen. Mit Mutter und Schwester emigriert Skizzen in den streng protestantischen amerikanischen Bible Belt, wo er seinerseits das Leben eines Hochstaplers führt, um seiner verhassten Durchschnittlichkeit Glanzlichter aufzusetzen. Er gibt sich als Schönberg-Spezialist aus und lügt erfolgreich über seine Ausbildung und Vergangenheit. Zu Hause richtet er, wenn er nicht gerade Dosen in eine Tonne an der Wand tritt, auf dem Dachboden ein „Museum der Unmenschlichkeit“ ein, sammelt Zeitungsartikel und Gräuelbilder. Seine Angst, die Menschheit werde vielleicht nicht überleben, ist längst von der Angst abgelöst worden, sie könnte bestehen bleiben …

The author emphasizes the profound connection between language and creativity, asserting that a writer's primary duty lies in honoring both. This perspective highlights the importance of linguistic integrity and the creative process, suggesting that true artistry emerges from a deep respect for words and their potential. The focus on craftsmanship invites readers to appreciate the nuances of writing and the commitment required to produce meaningful work.

Wyatt Gwyon hat sich auf das Kopieren berühmter Gemälde spezialisiert, um durch demütige Nachschöpfung die Seele der Bilder zu entdecken. Seine Begabung erregt die Aufmerksamkeit zwielichtiger Kunsthändler und Agenten, die in New Yorks Greenwich Village ihren Geschäften nachgehen. Aber Wyatts Lebensweg ist auch mit dem Schicksal zahlloser anderer Gestalten verknüpft, in deren Geschichten eine ganze Welt lebendig wird - hochgradig komisch, detailgenau geschildert und dabei so geheimnisvoll und labyrinthisch wie Ecos "Der Name der Rose".

The renowned essayinst, philosopher, and novelist presents a close-up study and rendering of Rainer Maria Rilke's poetic masterpiece Duino Elegies as he reflects on the art of translating a work from another language while maintaining the true essence of the original. 15,000 first printing.

Es gilt, einen literarischen Schatz zu heben: William Gass’ Roman Der Tunnel von 1995, ein Meisterwerk und eine «Great American Novel», ausgezeichnet mit dem National Book Award und in der Kritik heiß umstritten – die Geschichte eines Naziforschers, der in sich den Faschisten entdeckt. «Gass’ monumentaler Roman ist unzweifelhaft brillant: hypnotisch, poetisch, schwierig, manchmal auch rasend komisch – das letzte Meisterwerk der amerikanischen Postmoderne.» Tages-Anzeiger Zürich «Der wichtigste Roman eines Amerikaners dieser Generation.» The New Republic

Brackett Omensetter arrives, with his wife, family and belongings in the rural American town of Gilean. It swiftly becomes apparent that he is someone out of the ordinary, as he sets off a ground swell of violent emotions in the once tranquil commmunity. Who is he? What does he represent?