Word: gassings
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...HEART OF THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY by William Gass. 206 pages. Harper...
There is little doubt that William Gass is speaking for himself when one of the characters in this collection of short stories says: "I can't tolerate any more of my sophistries about spirit, mind, and breath. Body equals being, and if your weight goes down, you are the less." Coming from a man who makes his living teaching philosophy at Purdue University, such a flat-out assertion seems a little unusual. But then William James pledged in his diary to "care little for speculation; much for the form of my action...
...Gass published his fine first novel, Omensetter's Luck, two years ago, when he was 41. He shares James's pragmatism, his commitment to form and to the senses, his cheerless affirmation willed out of an all too obvious despair. The despair seems to rise from the conclusion that ultimate answers are beyond reach; Gass puts his faith in the structure of his prose and the intense physicality of his words. Death imagery crackles through these pages like winter wind through a cornfield, yet the characters have exceptional vitality. A youth watches with unblinking fascination as a farmhand...
...fasters will recruit volunteers to work for various anti-war groups "so that this symbolic action will lead to a long-term committment," Gass said. They will distribute pamphlets describing local and campus anti-war groups...
...fast will commence at noon on Sunday with a gathering of all the participants and will end with another meeting and a symbolic eating of bread. Gass said he hoped to organize a teach-in for one of the nights of the fast...