11. John Barth, Lost in the Funhouse

The American Novel Since 1945 (ENGL 291) In her lecture on John Barth’s collection of stories Lost in the Funhouse, Professor Amy Hungerford delves beyond the superficial pleasures and frustrations of Barth’s oft-cited metafictional masterwork to illuminate the profound commitment to language that his narrative risks entail. Foremost among Barth’s concerns, Hungerford argues, is the multi-faceted relationship between language and love. Desire can drive a narrative, or disrupt it. Language can create desi