Reviews

Epigraph by Gordon Lish

briandice's review

4.0

A series of letters (many finished, some not) written by a narrator with the same name as the author, this short novel challenges the reader to find meaning in the epistles written to a dozen or so people and institutions. Lish has recently become a widower, and his one-way narration (we never read responses to the letters) is often funny and irreverent. While we are working to understand the events of his wife's death we are also witnessing a man's struggle with sanity and relevance.

treandgro's review

3.0

This read, resulting directly (in my experience) from a recommendation, caught me unawares. It's a puzzler of an epistolary novel, as magical in rhythm as it is impenetrable in plot. Fortunately, plot here is not the point, so much as it seems to be about epistles themselves. Reading the narrator struggle with tone - some pages seem to represent discarded drafts - and elate in linguistic liberation pushes against the limited physical and moral confines of his life. There's certainly even much more going on here than I caught on to - readers more familiar with Lish's background may find extra-textual connections to ponder, but I only know him through his pupils - but what struck me most was the range of emotion elicited. It moved me enough to remark upon it into the void, and I expect its eccentricities will stick with me for a long time to come.