Donald Barthelme Knihy

Reprezentativní výbor povídek legendárního amerického experimentátora je splacením jednoho z posledních mnohaletých dluhů, které v českém překladu vůči americké krásné literatuře zůstaly i po roce 1989. Hravé, absurdní až surrealistické krátké příběhy, bránící se veškeré racionalitě, připomínají E. A. Poea, F. Kafku i Woodyho Allena a čtenáře okouzlují zachycením banality i bizarnosti moderního světa, čemuž odpovídají i jeho oblíbené jazykové prostředky - mluva reklam a vše, co doprovází pokleslou (americkou) kulturu a reálie.

„Statečný román o všem“ nejčtenějšího z postmoderních amerických autorů 70. a 80. let je svéráznou a vtipnou hyperbolou o světě, jak ho viděl Donald Barthelme (1931–1989), zasazenou mimo známý čas i prostor, a přesto každému tak povědomou. Stylem podobným jeho Padesáti povídkám (Argo, 1999) a stylem zcela nezaměnitelným navozuje úvodní situaci románu: „Je to úplně normální noha, až na to, že je sedm metrů vysoká.“ Obrovské tělo se pohybuje krajinou. Patří Mrtvému Otci. Je mrtvý a není mrtvý; mluví, uráží, řídí, žadoní, popichuje, svádí. Je moudrý, je vtipný, je ješitný, je napůl mechanický, je strašlivý ve svém hněvu, a přece bezmocný jako dítě, je… mrtvý? Krajinou nebezpečných Wendů a Velkého Otce Hada jej na provaze táhne procesí devatenácti lidí. Thomas, Julie, Emma, Edmund a další jej opečovávají i urážejí, krmí a usmiřují a také připravují na tajemný cíl své pouti. Jazykem naprosto nespoutaným nás Donald Barthelme provází příběhem, v němž je jasné jen jedno: že není jasné nic.

This collection showcases the work of a twentieth-century master who transformed the short story genre with his innovative narratives. Each tale reflects his unique style and creativity, offering readers a glimpse into the unforgettable characters and themes that define his literary legacy. The compilation serves as both a tribute to his influence and a comprehensive exploration of his contributions to storytelling, making it essential for fans of the genre.

Audacious and murderously witty, this collection features sixty stories that blend American culture with urban upheavals, transforming them into frontier myths. The narratives include surreal travelogues reminiscent of Kafka, alongside cryptic dialogues that explore deep human emotions and existential concerns. Barthelme's mastery of language and perception creates an unsettling yet irresistible reading experience, showcasing his unique ability to capture the complexities of contemporary life.

This collection of pithy, brilliantly acerbic pieces is a companion to Sixty Stories, Barthelme's earlier retrospective volume. Barthelme spotlights the idiosyncratic, haughty, sometimes downright ludicrous behavior of human beings, but it is style rather than content which takes precedence.

At age 82, Clifton Fadiman continues his prolific publishing career, here presenting 62 of the world's best short stories from 16 countries. His criteria? "Each story had to be both interesting and of high literary merit." Fadiman fulfills both requirements and much more, offering a cornucopia of superior 20th-century writers that includes Franz Kafka, D. H. Lawrence, Isaac Babel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Cheever, Sean O'Faolain, Graham Greene, Robert Penn Warren, Colette, John Updike, Donald Barthelme, and James Thurber. (Regrettably, J. D. Salinger is not included due to lack of permission.) Here is a truly remarkable collection of this century's short stories that readers from all over the world will read with delight.

Donald Barthelme is a puckish player with language, a writer of short but endlessly rewarding comic gems, a thinker and an experimenter. In these nine short stories, whether writing about a hairy, donkeyish king or a touching, private gesture of city-sized proportions, his is a surreal, deadpan genius.

An alternative history in fiction form which explores such concepts as the function of myth in history and the role of royalty in the modern world. King Arthur is rediscovered doing battle with the Nazis, and the grail to end all wars appears to be a bomb.

This collection is a companion to the long-established and highly successful Modern Short Stories One and its essential aims are the same: to offer stories of high literary quality which, though written for adults, can be enjoyed and appreciated by adolescents. The fifteen stories included are by distinguished writers from Africa, America, Australia, India, Ireland, Italy and Great Britain; and within their artistic context several of them deal with the special personal and social concerns of society today.The collection includes stories by the likes of Dorothy Parker, Maeve Binchy, Garrison Keillor, Peter Carey, Flannery O'Connor and Nadine Gordimer.

Simon, a middle-aged architect separated from his wife, is given the chance to live out a stereotypical male fantasy: freed from the travails of married life, he ends up living with three nubile lingerie models who use him as a sexual object.Set in the 1980s, there's a further tension between Simon's desire to exploit this stereotypical fantasy and his (as well as the author's) desire to treat the women as human beings, despite the women's claims that Simon can't distinguish between their personalities.Employing a variety of forms, Barthelme gracefully plays with this setup, creating a story that's not just funny—although it's definitely that—but actually quite melancholy, as Simon knows that the women's departure is inevitable, that this "paradise" will come to an end, and that he'll be left with only an empty house, booze, and regrets about chances not taken.