Writers: 13 Vignettes

Description

In Writers: 13 Vignettes, great American storyteller Barry Gifford paints portraits of famous writers caught in imaginary vulnerable moments in their lives. In prose that is funny, grotesque and a touch brutal, Gifford shows these writers at their most human, which is to say at their worst: they are liars, frauds, lousy lovers and drunks. In Gifford's house of mirrors, we are offered a unique perspective on this group of literary greats.Gifford asks: What does it mean to devote oneself entirely to art? And as an artist, what defines success and failure?

The author of more than forty works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, which have been translated into over twenty-five languages,BARRY GIFFORDwrites distinctly American stories for readers around the globe. From screenplays and librettos to his acclaimed Sailor and Lula novels, Gifford's writing is as distinctive as it is difficult to classify. Born in the Seneca Hotel on Chicago's Near North Side, he relocated in his adolescence to New Orleans. The move proved significant- throughout his career, Gifford's fiction-part-noir, part-picaresque, always entertaining-is born of the clash between what he has referred to as his "Northern Side" and "Southern Side." Gifford has been recipient of awards from PEN, the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America and the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. His novelWild at Heartwas adapted into the 1990 Palme d'Or-winning film of the same name. Gifford lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Barry Gifford invented his own American vernacular-William Faulkner by way of B-movie film noir, porn paperbacks, and Sun Records rockabilly." -Jonathan Lethem "The experience of reading Gifford is like starting a car and realizing, too late, that someone has cut its brake lines. A spectacular wreck is imminent, so you might as well enjoy the adrenaline rush..." -Nathaniel Rich, New York Review of Books "Gifford cuts right through the heart of what makes a good novel readable and entertaining... The way Barry Gifford does it, it's high art." -Elmore Leonard "Gifford is a master." -Los Angeles Times