1. Brilliance of word craft
June 15, 1999 Reviewer: Shaun Mason (smason@greenjournal.org) from Los Angeles, CA
When I first studied creative writing in college, my professor named three men he thought had defined the novel to that point, John Gardner, Robert Coover, John Barth (I would add others, but that's what he said). Coover's genius lies in his word craft. He drifts between reality, the dream, the dream of reality, and the reality of the dream (those really are 4 different things) effortlessly. To call his writing surreal doesn't begin to do it justice. He writes fiction that reads like your own thoughts, as if you were thinking each word as it appeared before your eyes. His novels live in a twilight zone squeezed in between dimensions, and although often populated by familiar names and faces (such as in this book and The Public Burning) he delves into the motivations that make the characters what they are. What makes a prince forge through brambles? What does a princess think and dream about while magically asleep for 100 years? Coover's speculations are hilarious, thought-provoking, mysterious, and compelling. A beautifully constructed story that we all already know, turned in on itself, and dissected to reveal level upon level of consciousness. Fine work from a true master of literature.
2. Reading this book made me tired...
May 13, 1999 Reviewer: A reader from Washington, DC
Our book club reviewed this book recently, but I could not work up any interest whatsoever. Perhaps the writing style just doesn't suit my taste. I like being able to understand what I'm reading and this book kept me trying to figure out what the author was trying to say -- too much climbing in/out of the briars...
3. Masterfully pulled off!
July 6, 1998 Reviewer: A reader from Chicago
This book is dizzyingly well-written. The images and ideas pile on top of each other with a relentless force, and then, suddenly, the book's over and you want more. Read this book, then wonder how men and women ever manage to hook up at all.