honey (07/25/82)
following up on joseph heller disease, (pyuxcc.315), one of dave's misinformed correspondents suggests: John Barth: His best effort is his first - "The Sot Weed Factor." it is hardly his first. fiction by jb: the floating opera (1956, revised 1967) the end of the road (1958, revised 1967) the sot-weed factor (1960, revised 1967) giles goat-boy (1966) lost in the funhouse (1968) chimera (1972) letters (1979) sabbatical (1982) chimera is my personal favorite, but i haven't finished sabbatical, so it's too early to tell. others might also disagree: granville hicks called goat-boy "one of the most important novels of our time." it's also worth noting that floating opera and funhouse were nominated for the national book award, chimera won the award, and goat-boy was a best seller. peter honeyman