"Heartfelt ineptitude has its appeal and so does heartless skill; but what you want is passionate virtuosity."
—From a 1968 interview
John Simmons Barth (born May 27, 1930) is an American author known for his innovative and postmodern approach to storytelling.
Bibliography
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Novels
- The Floating Opera (1956)
- The End of the Road (1958)
- The Sot-Weed Factor (1960)
- Giles Goat-Boy (1966)
- LETTERS (1979)
- Sabbatical (1982)
- The Tidewater Tales (1987)
- The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor (1991)
- Once Upon a Time: A Floating Opera (1994)
- Coming Soon!!! (2001)
- Every Third Thought (2011)
Short stories collection
- Lost in the Funhouse (1968)
- Chimera (1972)
- On with the Story (1996)
- The Book of Ten Nights and a Night (2004)
- Where Three Roads Meet (2005)
- The Development (2008)
Tropes found in his works:
- Doorstopper: The Sot-Weed Factor, Giles Goat-Boy, LETTERS, The Tidewater Tales and The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor all exceed over the 500 pages mark.
- Love Triangle: Lost in the Funhouse, from the short-story collection of the same title, focuses on a character named Ambrose attending a fair with his family and a girl named Magda that he has feelings for. When Ambrose gets lost in the funhouse, he ends up in a staff room with one-way glass, through which he sees Magda and his brother Peter using their search for him as an excuse to sneak off and flirt with each other. Heartbroken, and believing his presence to have deterred them from finding love earlier, the story ends with Ambrose deciding to become a funhouse operator to help other lovers even though he'd rather be among the couples falling in love.
