Coming Soon!!!
396 pages.
Current publisher: Houghton Mifflin.
Buy now from Amazon.com.
Synopsis
According to Houghton Mifflin’s publicity blurb, “Coming Soon!!! is the tale of two writers: an older retiring novelist setting out to write his last work and a young aspiring writer of hypertext intent on toppling his master.” See my review below for more details.
My Review
See the reviews page for my reaction to the book as well as that of other readers.
Critical Reaction
“Technical ingenuity is a hallmark of Barth’s work, and his latest novel relies almost entirely upon it…. Unfortunately, the display of metafictional conceits that subtends the novel does not make up for clunky writing and uninspired characters…. Readers are advised to turn to the original Floating Opera and leave this massy addendum to Barth’s academic acolytes.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Employing his signature wordplay and liberally salting his gleefully postmodern narrative with paeans to sailing, the Maryland coast, sex, and marriage, Barth, witty, wily, and a tad sentimental, muses over the creative process, the thin line between fact and fiction, growing old, and the tenuous survival of literature and theater in the digital age. Barth fans will enjoy this floating house of mirrors, but others, frankly, will be at sea.”
— Booklist
” ‘Whether the reader finds entertaining or tiresome such smoke-and-mirror tricks, a staple of Postmodernism, will depend on that reader’s taste and experience.’ The reader couldn’t have said it better himself.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Coming Soon!!! is not only a daring and exploratory novel but also a self-examination by Barth on the depth and extent of his career. Employing all of the literary fireworks that have made him a notable figure in postmodernist fiction, the author parodies his own well-deserved stature in contemporary literature.”
— The Barnes & Noble Review
“Barth is back in full metafictional finery, sporting all the bells and whistles of postmodernism like boutonnieres… it is bracing to have this final display of his matchless powers…. [A] fitting capstone to a Library of America-worthy body of work that overtowers that of most other writers of his generation.”
— Steven Moore, Washington Post
“The novelist emeritus keeps asking whether the postmodern novel — indeed, the novel itself — will survive the onrushing deluge of the electronic age. Alas, in his own would-be swan song, John Barth gives all but the most die-hard Barthomaniacs little reason to keep reading rather than click on ‘Quit.’”
— Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times
“Sort of like hanging out with a clever teenage boy who forgot to take his Ritalin and is spitting out puns and wordplay and penis jokes. That is, it can be entertaining for about five minutes. But it’s awfully hard to stay patient with the novel’s flat characters, the narrator’s long, windy digressions and, most crucially, the novel’s puerility.”
— James Lough, Denver Post
“Coming Soon!!! is rather short on plot and rather long on Barth’s signature linguistic trickery…. ‘So are we postmodern, or what?’ becomes a recurring question. Yes, I said, yes. We are. But perhaps there is not enough story to keep this opera redux afloat.”
— Laurie Kaplan, Philadelphia Inquirer
“I am sorry to say that Barth has jammed his latest novel, Coming Soon!!!, so full of this arch, emptily alliterative, wised-up-to-no-purpose decorative language that reading it is a bother and a chore, even for presumptive postmods like me…. The tricky and tiresome language of the book seems to sap Barth’s energy, so there’s a ton of postmod self-consciousness but surprisingly little narrative vigor.”
— Jon F. Spayde, City Pages.com (Twin Cities)
“Barth’s latest novel, Coming Soon!!!, is a post-modern, metafictional mess. Readers should stick to his classic ’60s novel set in pre-Colonial Virginia, The Sot-Weed Factor.”
— Cover to Cover (KPFA Radio, Berkeley)
“So at age 71 Barth proves his resilience with Coming Soon!!!, a novel that shows an artist who refuses to fade quietly away and will take to the mat anyone who thinks he can top the master.”
— William J. Cobb, Houston Chronicle
“Once Barth gets his story rolling, his crazy quilt of digressions starts to make sense, and as you follow the trails of the competing authors, you’re entertained by the sheer inventiveness of his plot — not to mention the virtuoso wordplay. If Coming Soon!!! does indeed close Barth’s career, it does so with an amazing jolt of energy and zest. This is not an old guy’s novel; it reads like it was written by a youngster fueled by junk food, caffeine and the joy of mouthing off.”
— Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times
Resources
- A brief interview in the Philadelphia City Paper
- Read the first chapter of the book at the Houston Chronicle, New York Times Book Review, or the Washington Post.
- An information bulletin from the Library of Congress on the novel.
- Barth’s Wit Just Keeps Rolling On, an article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about a Barth reading from the novel.
- Reviews: Center for Book Culture, CityPages.com (Twin Cities), The Modern Word, New York Times, and the Washington Post.
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