John Barth

by David Morrell

(1976)

Publisher: Penn State University Press

In 1969, while David Morrell was writing First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created, he also wrote his doctoral dissertation about acclaimed author, John Barth. In it, Morrell analyses Barth’s early fiction, using interviews with Barth, his agent, and his editors as well as several of Barth’s unpublished essays and letters to tell what Morrell calls “the story behind the stories, a biography of Barth’s fiction.”

Over the years, scholars have found John Barth: An Introduction invaluable for its lengthy biographical sections, which Barth himself approved. Fans of Morrell’s fiction will find this book enlightening in terms of what Barth taught him about writing.

This book is a rich, scholarly dissertation that can be considered the best place to start a study of John Barth. Morrell is a true gentleman and scholar who wrote so much more than the Rambo series.