The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor
573 pages.
Original publisher: Little, Brown.
Current publisher: Anchor Press.
Buy now from Amazon.com.
Synopsis
Barth returns to his Fabulist days a la Chimera with this superb novel. It’s one part Arabian fantasy and one part semi-biographical narrative, as the main character somehow (the book does not say how) finds himself back in an Arabian court. To save his life, Somebody (the narrator) must tell his story to an Arabian court. But interestingly enough, it’s modern-day America that the Arabians find fantastic and absurd. (For more information, read my review and interview with Barth about this book.)
Critical Reaction
“Riveting from cover to cover…. One of the most enjoyable, accomplished and satisfying novels of any time.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
“A beautiful book… gorgeous, playful, enigmatic, garish, eclectic, and unlike anything else around…. There are rich rewards. Chief among them is a lapidary prose style that out-Nabokovs Nabokov.”
— Chicago Tribune
Resources
- Review by The New York Times
- Review by MIT’s The Tech
- Review by Dave Edelman (on this site)
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