A review by gemmak
The Portable Sixties Reader by Ann Charters

5.0

I feel like this book just started off as a casual joke, and blossomed into this bizarre and hilarious mockery of Arthurian legend. What if, Barthelme proposes, King Arthur and all of his knights were still around during World War II? Chivalric language buts up against blunt vernacular, and it's always funny. I love Barthelme's long dialogue only passages, where peasants watch Mordred do a weird dance, or Lancelot angrily bludgeon things. But since it's Barthelme something dark and profound sneaks its way in, like Arthur desperate to embrace his long awaited death. This book also takes about 45 minutes to read, so there's really no reason not to.