In his new and thoroughly confusing work of fiction John Barth seems
at first blush to be like a great architect making a batch of doll
houses just to show that his virtuosity includes mastery over
the elegant trifle and the deft sketch. This, of course, is exactly what
we were not expecting from the author of “Giles Goat-Boy” and “The
Sot-Weed Factor,” the
two most wildly rambunctious novels in American
literature.
A useful analogy is the story of the Imperial master of
cavalry who one day was asked to exhibit his horsemanship to an array of
visiting field marshals and kings. Famous as he was for teaching cadets
to make a horse to everything short of flying, he
chose on this occasion to mount a glossy charger and
ride him in a perfect walk before his distinguished and (one hopes)
admiring spectators. So Mr. Barth gives us 14 prose designs, none of
which is quite like anything for which we have a name handy.