In Tests of Time, William H. Gass shares his thoughts about writing, reading, culture, history, politics, and public opinion, providing essays on classic writers and contemporaries, literary "lists" and their use, the extent and cost of political influences on writers, and the First Amendment. The University of Chicago Press originally published this title; this is the first edition from Dalkey Archive Press.
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In Tests of Time, William H. Gass shares his thoughts about writing, reading, culture, history, politics, and public opinion, providing essays on classic writers and contemporaries, literary "lists" and their use, the extent and cost of political influences on writers, and the First Amendment. The University of Chicago Press originally published this title; this is the first edition from Dalkey Archive Press.
"Of all living literary figures, William H. Gass may count as the most daringly scathing and most assertively fecund: in language, in ideas, in intricacy of form; above all in relentless fury" – Cynthia Ozick, New York Times Book Review
"All the essays retain care and gusto; even a meditation on history and lies based around the O.J. Simpson trial feels fresh. If Gass finds the prose of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities "elevated to poetry without the least sign of strain," the same might be said for much of this collection" – Publishers Weekly
"Only infrequently in these essays, many born as occasional pieces or lectures, does Gass say the expected thing, as when, for instance, he reminds his readers that the craft of writing, like any other craft, requires lots of exercise. More often, he views the world idiosyncratically, spilling out fresh gems at every turn. Like a brainier Seinfeld, Gass can write about nothing in particular and about everything, in essays humorous and arch, complex and accessible—and always good fun." – Kirkus Review