Experimentation And Versatility: The Early Novels And Short Fiction Of Fred Chappell (H681/Mrc) - Casey Howard Clabough - Bog

Experimentation and Versatility considers Chappell''s first four novels and his short fiction-the novels chronologically and the short stories thematically-in order to demonstrate the unique range and importance of his fictional prose. Rather than inserting Chappell''s fictional variables into a single theoretical formula, Clabough traces and celebrates their various and multifaceted excursions into genres as disparate as Appalachian pastoralism and experimental science fiction. Containing both an interview with Chappell and a previously unpublished short story, Experimentation and Versatility also offers new primary sources on Chappell''s work, even as it contextualizes him as one of our most exciting and multi-talented contemporary writers. Investigating the complexities of Chappell''s work, Clabough''s study offers new ways of considering Chappell, who has been characterized variously as a Appalachian, Southern, and fantasy writer. However, as Clabough demonstrates, he is, in fact, all and none of these things-a writer of immense gifts constantly reinventing himself through his experiments in seemingly disparate genres.