Barth, John

Chimera

New york, NY, USA: Random House, 1972. First Edition. Hardcover. "...Dunyazade, kid sister of Scheherazade of The Thousand and One Nights, (has) her own way with words. There is also Perseus, the demigod who slew the Gorgon Medusa, and yet finds himself at forty "sea-leveled, parched and plucked, every grain in my molted sandals raising blisters, and beleaguered by the serpents of my past." And Bellerophon, the hero who tames the winged horse Pegasus only to discover, "My life's a failure. I'm not a mythic hero. I never will be." Like the Chimera of myth, which had a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail, they are all joined into a single, dazzling whole that is, in a sense, the culmination of all of John Barth's work thus far, transforming myth into daily reality and vice versa." (from front flap). The sixth novel by John Barth (1930-2024), the great American author and winner of the 1973 National Book Award for this book. Chimera is a fantasy novel, or 3 collected novellas. Per the quote above, these novellas tell the stories of three mythological figures, Dunyazade in Dunyazadiad, Perseus in Perseid, and Bellerophon in Bellerophoniad as they deal with modern-day problems in their ancient settings. Barth is critically regarded as a founding inventor-practitioner of the "postmodern" & "metafictional" literary movements, with Chimera being a tour de force in both these genres. Curator point of distinction: The "Chimera" has historically been depicted in Greek mythology as a lion with a goat's head protruding from its back and a tail ending with a snake's head, but obviously the author and cover artist can take certain artistic liberties in his craft, (it is a mythical creature after all). Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition as stated on copyright page (issued simultaneously with a limited edition), first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon ending in "2", per contemporary custom of the publisher. A quite collectible version of a classic Barth novel (actually three inter-related chapters or novellas). Book in relatively fine condition with only slight rubbing & fading to edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; moderate staining to top of text block with minor spotting at side and bottom of same; Interior relatively fine with only very small-tiny bumps at upper edges of a few page leaves. Dust jacket relatively fine with minor age-toning to front, back cover and spine mostly to edges; some creasing and folding mostly at corner/edges of same. Fine. [Item #7881]

Price: $60.00