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In \u003ci\u003eForty Stories\u003c\/i\u003e, the companion to \u003ci\u003eSixty Stories,\u003c\/i\u003e he delivers a dazzling collection of tales--each one a collision of wit, absurdity, and sharp social insight.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith a signature postmodern style that blends pastiche, collage, and metafiction, Barthelme reinvents storytelling at every turn. He takes on subjects as varied as Paul Klee, Goethe, Captain Blood, modern courtship, marriage, divorce, and armadillos, but his true fascination lies in language itself--how it twists, contradicts, and reveals the absurdity of contemporary life. 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For readers who crave fiction that defies convention, this collection is an invitation to experience storytelling at its most fearless.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53450467508497,"sku":"NGR9781250420299","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53533842899217,"sku":"NIN9781250420299","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781250420299.jpg?v=1776896906"},{"product_id":"sixty-stories-book-donald-barthelme-9781250420312","title":"Sixty Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSixty Stories\u003c\/i\u003e brings together Barthelme's most famous works and hidden gems--a dazzling, subversive collection where language bends, reality warps, and the absurd reigns supreme.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith these subversive, razor-sharp stories, Donald Barthelme dismantles the familiar and rearranges it into something dazzlingly strange. \u003ci\u003eSixty Stories\u003c\/i\u003e is a literary fun house where language is bent, meaning is slippery, and the absurd is never far from the truth.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHere, the ordinary mutates into the uncanny--an enormous balloon hovers over the city, its purpose debated by those below; a classroom lesson spirals into something darker and more profound; two men locked in a Cold War bunker teeter on the edge of madness. Elsewhere, a friend struggles to coax the Phantom of the Opera out of his shadowy refuge, and an entire town is made up of nothing but churches.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBarthelme moves effortlessly between deadpan satire, dream logic, and moments of startling beauty, crafting stories that are as unsettling as they are irresistible. Whether you're encountering his work for the first time or returning for another descent into his linguistic labyrinth, \u003ci\u003eSixty Stories\u003c\/i\u003e is a testament to a writer who saw the world askew--and showed us how thrilling that could be.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53450496803089,"sku":"NGR9781250420312","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53534377705745,"sku":"NIN9781250420312","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781250420312.jpg?v=1779875716"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-donald-barthelme.oembed?page=2","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}