John the Posthumous
2013
First Published
3.59
Average Rating
106
Number of Pages
John the Posthumous exists in between fiction and poetry, elegy and history: a kind of novella in objects, it is an anatomy of marriage and adultery, an interlocking set of fictional histories, and the staccato telling of a murder, perhaps two murders. This is a literary album of a pre-Internet world, focused on physical elements—all of which are tools for either violence or sustenance. Knives, old iron gates, antique houses in flames; Biblical citations, blood and a history of the American bed: the unsettling, half-perceived images, and their precise but alien manipulation by a master of the language will stay with readers. Its themes are familiar—violence, betrayal, failure—its depiction of these utterly original and hauntingly beautiful.
Avg Rating
3.59
Number of Ratings
162
5 STARS
28%
4 STARS
31%
3 STARS
21%
2 STARS
11%
1 STARS
9%
goodreads
Author
Jason Schwartz
Author · 3 books
Jason Schwartz is the author of a book of fiction, A German Picturesque (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998). His work has appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Antioch Review, Conjunctions, New York Tyrant, The Quarterly, StoryQuarterly, Unsaid, and other publications.
