They found the Dead Father standing in a wood, slaying. First he slew a snowshoe rabbit cleaving it in twain with a single blow and then he slew a spiny anteater and then he slew two rusty numbats and then whirling the great blade round and round his head he slew a wallaby and a… Continue reading They found the Dead Father standing in a wood, slaying | Donald Barthelme
It is rather an interesting tale, said the Dead Father, which I shall now tell. I had been fetched by the look of a certain maiden, a raven-haired maiden —He looked at Julie, whose hand strayed to her dark dark hair. A raven-haired maiden of great beauty. Her name was Tulla. I sent her many… Continue reading A Rather Interesting Tale (From Barthelme’s The Dead Father)
“The Piano Player” by Donald Barthelme from Come Back, Dr. Caligari (1964) Outside his window five-year-old Priscilla Hess, square and squat as a mailbox (red sweater, blue lumpy corduroy pants), looked around poignantly for someone to wipe her overflowing nose. There was a butterfly locked inside that mailbox, surely; would it ever escape? Or was the… Continue reading Read “The Piano Player,” a very short story by Donald Barthelme
Patricide: Patricide is a bad idea, first because it is contrary to law and custom and second because it proves, beyond a doubt, that the father’s every fluted accusation against you was correct: you are a thoroughly bad individual, a patricide! — member of a class of persons universally ill-regarded. It is all right to […]
… Continue reading “Patricide: Patricide is a bad idea” (Donald Barthelme)
Richie Pope’s Fatherson showed up in today’s mail—it’s issue #13 of Youth in Decline’s monograph series Frontier. It’s so, so good—I’ve gone through it a few times now, and its immediate vibrancy and apparently simplicity slips into richer and richer territory each time. It reminded me at first of a book my wife brought back to me years… Continue reading Some Fathersons Go to Museums of Fine Art — Richie Pope
To find a lost father: The first problem in finding a lost father is to lose him, decisively. Often he will wander away from home and lose himself. Often he will remain at home but still be “lost” in every true sense, locked away in an upper room, or in a workshop, or in the… Continue reading To find a lost father (Donald Barthelme)
Patricide: Patricide is a bad idea, first because it is contrary to law and custom and second because it proves, beyond a doubt, that the father’s every fluted accusation against you was correct: you are a thoroughly bad individual, a patricide! — member of a class of persons universally ill-regarded. It is all right to… Continue reading “Patricide: Patricide is a bad idea” (Donald Barthelme)
Patricide: Patricide is a bad idea, first because it is contrary to law and custom and second because it proves, beyond a doubt, that the father’s every fluted accusation against you was correct: you are a thoroughly bad individual, a patricide! — member of a class of persons universally ill-regarded. It is all right to… Continue reading “Patricide: Patricide is a bad idea” (Donald Barthelme)
To find a lost father: The first problem in finding a lost father is to lose him, decisively. Often he will wander away from home and lose himself. Often he will remain at home but still be “lost” in every true sense, locked away in an upper room, or in a workshop, or in the… Continue reading “To find a lost father” (Donald Barthelme)
They found the Dead Father standing in a wood, slaying. First he slew a snowshoe rabbit cleaving it in twain with a single blow and then he slew a spiny anteater and then he slew two rusty numbats and then whirling the great blade round and round his head he slew a wallaby and a… Continue reading “First he slew a snowshoe rabbit cleaving it in twain with a single blow and then he slew a spiny anteater” (Donald Barthelme)
Here is the riddle said the Great Father Serpent with a great flourishing of his two-tipped tongue, and it is a son-of-a-bitch I will tell you that, the most arcane item in the arcana, you will never guess it in a hundred thousand human years some of which I point out have already been used… Continue reading “Here is the riddle, and it is a son-of-a-bitch” (Donald Barthelme)
“The School” is a short story from Donald Barthelme’s Sixty Stories. Well, we had all these children out planting trees, see, because we figured that … that was part of their education, to see how, you know, the root systems … and also the sense of responsibility, taking care of things, being individually responsible. You know… Continue reading Read “The School,” a Short Story by Donald Barthelme
“The Zombies,” a short story by Donald Barthelme— “The Zombies” In a high wind the leaves fall from the trees. The zombies are standing about talking. “Beautiful day!” “Certainly is!” The zombies have come to buy wives from the people of this village, the only village around that will sell wives to zombies. “Beautiful day!”… Continue reading “The Zombies” — Donald Barthelme
The Dead Father by Donald Barthelme. Mass market paperback from Pocket Books (S&S), 1976. Cover art and design uncredited. Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts by Donald Barthelme. Mass market paperback from Bantam, 1969. Cover art and design uncredited. I found a lovely copy of Donald Barthelme’s story collection Come Back, Dr. Caligari! a few weeks ago, and I’m… Continue reading Three Books (Books acquired, 31 July 2020)
George Saunders has a new story called “Little St. Don” in this week’s New Yorker. A satirical hagiography of Donald Trump, “Little St. Don” is a pastiche told in little vignettes, parables roughly allegorical to today’s horrorshow headlines. Here’s an example from early in the story: Little St. Don was once invited to the birthday party… Continue reading George Saunders’ “Little St. Don” and the limits of contemporary satire
The Dead Father by Donald Barthleme. Penguin paperback, 1986. Cover design by Todd Radom; cover illustration by Lonnie Sue Johnson. Saturn, Orpheus, Lear, Nobodaddy. A sleeping undead giant, a quest. Good angry fun. I’ll say it’s my favorite Barthelme today (answers will change in the future). Fathers and Crows by William T. Vollmann. Penguin paperback, 1992.… Continue reading Three Books
BOOK REVIEWS: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z FILM REVIEWS TELEVISION REVIEWS MISCELLANY Book reviews Adrian, Chris A Better Angel — Chris Adrian Gob’s Grief — Chris Adrian The Children’s Hospital — Chris Adrian Alexander, Patrick Marcel… Continue reading Reviews
