Senior Attachment or What Love Turns Into
Senior Attachment or What Love Turns Into

Summary/Abstract: My essay puts forward a reading of John Barth's most recent short fiction keyed on the biographical element that governs the ideology of his late fictional output, old age. It endeavours to identify the instances in which affection functions as a catalyst for tracing the outline of the golden years of the characters, as the pretext to release the political and parodic slants of the fictional fabric. These instances range from the less profound, such as physical love or tenderness to the ones that compensate for the associated tragedies of the inevitable demise: deep attachment, terror of being left behind, temptation to commit suicide or misgivings over eternal life.

• Details
• Contents