From Library Journal
Sorrentino here revises his 1984 collection of essays with the addition of 25 new pieces. Sorrentino waxes mostly about things literary, including good bits on William Carlos Williams, James Joyce, and Flann O'Brien, who have greatly influenced his fiction, but covers a few other areas of the arts as well. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Washington Post Book World
"If I were a poet, he's the man I'd want to be reviewed by."

New York Times
"I recommend this book to all readers."

Book Description
Throughout these seventy-two critical pieces, Gilbert Sorrentino argues against the idea that fiction and poetry are only valuable for what they "tell us." His close readings of such influential writers as William Carlos Williams, Edward Dahlberg. Hubert Selby, John Hawkes, William Gaddis and Flann O'Brien demonstrates his concern for the craft of writing and the development of an American aesthetic.

About the Author
In addition to his books of poetry and criticism, Sorrentino is the author of fourteen novels. He has received numerous grants and awards throughout his career, including the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature, two Guggenheim Fellowships, two NEA Fellowships, and a Lannan Literary Award.

ANNOTATION

A collection of 47 critical essays, most on contemporary writers, that have appeared over the past 25 years in various magazines and journals.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"For over the decades, Gilbert Sorrentino has produced brilliant, penetrating essays and reviews, each one an uncompromising statement of what is good - and what is not - in literature and culture. Something Said collects in a single volume these definitive readings of such major twentieth-century innovators as William Carlos Williams, William Gaddis, Italo Calvino, John Hawkes, and Robert Creeley, along with critical writings on film, pop culture, and visual art." This new expanded edition includes twenty-five pieces written since the publication of the first edition in 1984.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal