The Dead Father — Donald Barthelme

A wildly imaginative, absurdist adventure that redefines the boundaries of fiction.

In The Dead Father, Donald Barthelme crafts a gargantuan half-dead, half-alive, part mechanical being who, despite his condition, still clings to his hopes and vanities. This wise yet powerful figure is being dragged by a cable toward a mysterious goal, setting the stage for an extraordinary journey. Through the imaginative and inventive use of language that influenced a generation of writers, Barthelme offers readers a glimpse into his unique fictional universe.

As Donald Antrim notes in his introduction, "The Dead Father grants its author an almost complete artistic freedom... a permission to reshape, misrepresent, or even ignore the world as we find it." Blending humor, anxiety, and a sense of liberation, this novel invites readers to laugh along with its author and feel alive in the face of the unknown. A must-read for fans of literary fiction, postmodernism, and experimental novels that challenge traditional narratives.