View source for John Barth

{{short description|American writer (1930–2024)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| image       = Author John Barth (46716317801).jpg
| imagesize   =
| caption     = Barth in 1995
| birth_date  = {{birth date|mf=yes|1930|5|27}}
| birth_place = [[Cambridge, Maryland]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2024|4|2|1930|5|27}}
| death_place = [[Bonita Springs, Florida]], U.S.
| occupation  = {{cslist|Novelist|academic}}
| nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| education   = {{ubl|[[Juilliard School]]|[[Johns Hopkins University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])}}
| period      = 1956–2022
| genre       = {{cslist|[[Postmodernism]]|[[metafiction]]}}
| awards      = {{awd|[[National Book Award]]|1973|[[Chimera (Barth novel)|Chimera]]}}
}}

'''John Simmons Barth''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɑr|θ}};<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/barth "Barth"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226210400/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/barth |date=December 26, 2014}}. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his [[Postmodern literature|postmodern]] and [[metafiction]]al fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include ''[[The Sot-Weed Factor (novel)|The Sot-Weed Factor]]'', a whimsical retelling of [[Province of Maryland|Maryland's colonial history]]; ''[[Giles Goat-Boy]]'', a satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the [[Cold War]] world; and ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]'', a self-referential and experimental collection of short stories. He was co-recipient of the [[National Book Award]] in 1973 for his episodic novel ''[[Chimera (Barth novel)|Chimera]]''.

==Life==
John Simmons Barth, called "Jack", was born in [[Cambridge, Maryland]], on May 27, 1930. His parents were John Jacob and Georgia (Simmons) Barth. His father ran a candy store.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":1" /> He had an older brother, Bill, and a twin sister, Jill.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=John |date=November 2008 |title=On With The Story: Remembering Iconic Maryland Novelist John Barth |url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/john-barth-maryland-novelist-author-passes-away/ |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=[[Baltimore Magazine]] |language=en-US |archive-date=April 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408215257/https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/john-barth-maryland-novelist-author-passes-away/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1947, he graduated from Cambridge High School, where he played drums and wrote for the school newspaper.<ref name=giles>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Nelles |first=William |date=2000 |title=John Barth |url=https://archive.org/details/americannovelist227gile_0/page/38 |url-access=registration |editor1-last=Giles |editor1-first=James R. |editor2-last=Giles |editor2-first=Wanda H. |encyclopedia=American Novelists Since World War II: Sixth Series |location=Detroit, MI |publisher=The Gale Group |page=38 |isbn=0787631361}}</ref> He briefly studied Elementary Theory and Advanced Orchestration at the [[Juilliard School]]<ref>[http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Barth__John.html Townsend, Victoria. Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Spring 2005] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916213437/http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Barth__John.html |date=September 16, 2011}}</ref> before attending [[Johns Hopkins University]], where he received a B.A. in 1951 and an M.A. in 1952.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Harrison |date=April 2, 2024 |title=John Barth, novelist who orchestrated literary fantasies, dies at 93 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/04/02/john-barth-author-dead-obituary/ |access-date=April 8, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> His thesis novel, ''[[The Shirt of Nessus#John Barth|The Shirt of Nessus]]'', drew on his experiences at Johns Hopkins.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Designs of tomorrow |url=https://exhibits.library.jhu.edu/exhibits/show/lost-and-found-in-the-funhouse/creation/designs-of-tomorrow |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[Johns Hopkins University]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409151637/https://exhibits.library.jhu.edu/exhibits/show/lost-and-found-in-the-funhouse/creation/designs-of-tomorrow |url-status=live}}</ref>

Barth married Harriet Anne Strickland on January 11, 1950. He published two short stories that same year, one in Johns Hopkins's student literary magazine and one in ''The Hopkins Review''. His daughter, Christine Ann, was born in the summer of 1951. His son, John Strickland, was born the following year.<ref name=giles/>

From 1953 to 1965, Barth was a professor at [[Pennsylvania State University]], where he met his second wife,{{clarify |reason =What happened to his first wife? |date =August 2025}} Shelly Rosenberg.<ref name="http://www.davidlouisedelman.com">"John Barth" FAQ, http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/barth/faqs {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125015257/http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/barth/faqs |date=January 25, 2018}}</ref> His third child, Daniel Stephen, was born in 1954.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=Pinto |first=Marita |date=April 3, 2024 |title=Who was John Barth? All about Postmodernist novelist as he passes away at 93 |url=https://www.pinkvilla.com/trending/world/who-was-john-barth-all-about-novelist-known-for-his-postmodern-and-metafiction-as-he-passes-away-at-93-1291863 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[Pinkvilla]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409013015/https://www.pinkvilla.com/trending/world/who-was-john-barth-all-about-novelist-known-for-his-postmodern-and-metafiction-as-he-passes-away-at-93-1291863 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1965, he moved to the [[University at Buffalo|State University of New York at Buffalo]], where he taught from 1965 to 1973. In that period, he came to know "the remarkable short fiction" of the Argentine [[Jorge Luis Borges]], which inspired his collection ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]''.<ref>Barth, introduction to ''[[The Literature of Exhaustion]]'', in ''The Friday Book'' (1984).</ref>

Barth taught at [[Boston University]] as a visiting professor in 1972,<ref>{{cite web |date=April 3, 2024 |title=John Barth, who expanded the boundaries of postmodern writing, dies at 93 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04/03/metro/john-barth-who-expanded-boundaries-postmodern-writing-dies-93/ |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |language=en-US |archive-date=April 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408201928/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04/03/metro/john-barth-who-expanded-boundaries-postmodern-writing-dies-93/ |url-status=live}}</ref> then at Johns Hopkins University from 1973 until he retired in 1991 with the [[emeritus]] rank.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=Lost in the Funhouse |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/lost-funhouse |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |archive-date=April 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407080828/https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/lost-funhouse |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

Barth died under [[Hospice care in the United States|hospice care]] in [[Bonita Springs, Florida]], on April 2, 2024, at the age of 93.<ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/books/john-barth-dead.html|title=John Barth, Writer Who Pushed Storytelling's Limits, Dies at 93|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 2, 2024|accessdate=April 2, 2024|archive-date=April 2, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402232106/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/books/john-barth-dead.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Literary work==
Barth's career began with ''[[The Floating Opera]]'' and ''[[The End of the Road]]'', two short realist<ref name="1987SWF"/> novels that deal with controversial topics: suicide and abortion, respectively.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Satterfield |first=Ben |date=1983 |title=Facing the Abyss: 'The Floating Opera' and 'End of the Road' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44329484 |journal=[[CLA Journal]] |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=341–352 |jstor=44329484 |issn=0007-8549 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Powers |first=Aaron |date=September 22, 2008 |title=John Barth: The End of the Road |url=https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/entertainment/local/2008/09/22/john-barth-end-road/52256800007/ |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=[[South Coast Today]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

''[[The Sot-Weed Factor (novel)|The Sot-Weed Factor]]'' (1960; the title is an archaic phrase meaning "the tobacco merchant") was initially intended as completing a trilogy of "realist" novels, but developed into a different project<ref name="1987SWF">John Barth (1987) Foreword to Doubleday Anchor Edition of ''The Sot-Weed Factor''</ref> and is seen as marking Barth's discovery of [[postmodernism]].<ref name="Clavier2007p165"/> It reimagines the life of [[Ebenezer Cooke (poet)|Ebenezer Cooke]], a poet in colonial Maryland, and recounts a series of fantastic and often comic adventures, including an account of the story of Captain [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]] and [[Pocahontas]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Holder |first=Alan |date=1968 |title="What Marvelous Plot... Was Afoot?" History in Barth's "The Sot-Weed Factor" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2711019 |journal=American Quarterly |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=596–604 |doi=10.2307/2711019 |jstor=2711019 |issn=0003-0678|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Barth's next novel, ''[[Giles Goat-Boy]]'' (1966), is a lengthy satirical fantasy serving as an [[allegory]] of the [[Cold War]], set in a university divided into an authoritarian East Campus and a more open West Campus.<ref> {{cite book|last = Grausam|first = Daniel|chapter = Institutionalizing Postmodernism: John Barth and Modern War|title= On Endings: American Postmodern Fiction and the Cold War|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KHlgb0n_-tAC|access-date = May 2, 2012|year = 2011|page = 26|publisher = University of Virginia Press|isbn = 978-0-8139-3161-6}}</ref> George Giles, a boy raised as a goat, discovers his humanity and sets out on a quest to become a "Grand Tutor", a messiah-like spiritual leader within the university.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mercer |first=Peter |date=1971 |title=The Rhetoric of "Giles Goat-Boy" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1345149 |journal=[[Novel: A Forum on Fiction]] |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=147–158 |doi=10.2307/1345149 |jstor=1345149 |issn=0029-5132 |access-date=April 10, 2024 |archive-date=October 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022012506/http://www.jstor.org/stable/1345149 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The novel was a surprise best-seller,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/books/review/InsideList-t.html | work=The New York Times | first=Dwight | last=Garner | title=Inside the List | date=October 5, 2008 | access-date=July 31, 2023 | archive-date=July 31, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731215046/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/books/review/InsideList-t.html | url-status=live }}</ref> and some consider it Barth's best work.<ref>{{cite book| last = Bryant| first = Joseph Allen |title = Twentieth-Century Southern Literature |url = https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury0000brya |url-access = registration |access-date = May 19, 2012 |year = 1997 |publisher = University Press of Kentucky |isbn = 978-0-8131-0937-4}}</ref>

The short story collection ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]'' (1968) and the novella collection ''[[Chimera (Barth novel)|Chimera]]'' (1972) are even more [[metafiction]]al than their two predecessors, foregrounding the writing process and presenting achievements such as a seven-deep nested quotation. ''Chimera'' shared the U.S. [[National Book Award for Fiction]].<ref name=nba1973/>

In his epistolary novel ''[[LETTERS]]'' (1979), Barth corresponds with characters from his other books. Later novels such as ''[[The Tidewater Tales]]'' (1987) and ''[[The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor]]'' (1991) continue in the metafictional vein, using writers as protagonists who interact with their own and other stories in elaborate ways. His 1994 ''Once Upon a Time: A Floating Opera'' casts Barth himself as the protagonist who on a sailing trip encounters characters and situations from previous works.<ref name="Clavier2007p165">Clavier, Berndt (2007) ''John Barth and Postmodernism: Spatiality, Travel, Montage'' pp. 165–167</ref>

==Styles, approaches and artistic criteria==
Barth's work is characterized by a historical awareness of literary tradition<ref>''Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut''</ref> and by the practice of rewriting typical of postmodernism. He said, "I don't know what my view of history is, but insofar as it involves some allowance for repetition and recurrence, reorchestration, and reprise [...] I would always want it to be more in the form of a thing circling out and out and becoming more inclusive each time."<ref name="Elias2001p224">Elias, Amy J. (2001) [https://books.google.com/books?id=onfwG1U4j38C&pg=PA224 ''Sublime Desire: History and Post-1960s Fiction'']. p. 224.</ref><ref>Lampkin, Loretta M.; Barth, John [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1208461 "An Interview with John Barth"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625175507/http://www.jstor.org/stable/1208461 |date=June 25, 2016}}. ''Contemporary Literature'', Vol. 29, No. 4 (Winter 1988), pp. 485–497.</ref> In Barth's postmodern sensibility, parody is a central device.<ref>Hutcheon Linda. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cCqJXzyRFCcC&pg=PA50 ''Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox'']. pp. 50–51.</ref>

Around 1972, in an interview, Barth declared that "The process [of making a novel] is the content, more or less."<ref>Samet, Tom. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1343074 "The Modulated Vision: Lionel Trilling's 'Larger Naturalism'"]. ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 4, No. 3 (Spring 1978), pp. 539–557.
<br />Quotation: novel is the process of its own making. "The process is the content, more or less," John Barth has recently declared,<sup>38</sup> thus turning [Mark] Schorer's position on its head.</ref><ref>Prescott, Peter S.; Prescott, Anne Lake. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qgwklG2FvRwC&pg=PA137 ''Encounters with American Culture'', Volume 2, p. 137]. Google Books.</ref>

==Essays==
While writing these books, Barth was also pondering and discussing the theoretical problems of fiction writing. In 1967, he wrote a highly influential<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/pss/1209004] Contemporary Literature 2000</ref> and controversial<ref>{{cite web |url=http://elab.eserver.org/hfl0258.html |title=The Literature of Exhaustion |access-date=September 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521075909/http://elab.eserver.org/hfl0258.html |archive-date=May 21, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> essay considered a manifesto of postmodernism, "[[The Literature of Exhaustion]]" (first printed in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' in 1967). It depicts [[literary realism]] as a "used-up" tradition; Barth's description of his own work, which many thought illustrated a core trait of postmodernism, is "novels which imitate the form of a novel, by an author who imitates the role of author".<ref>p.72</ref> The essay was widely considered a statement of "[[the death of the novel]]",<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sacks |first=Sam |date=November 7, 2013 |title=Against "The Death of the Novel" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/against-the-death-of-the-novel |access-date=April 9, 2024 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409173512/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/against-the-death-of-the-novel |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Kathleen |date=2002 |title=The Exhaustion of Literature: Novels, Computers, and the Threat of Obsolescence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1209111 |journal=Contemporary Literature |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin Press]] |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=518–559 |doi=10.2307/1209111 |jstor=1209111 |issn=0010-7484 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409173636/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1209111 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> but Barth later insisted that he had merely been making clear that a particular stage in history was passing, and pointing to possible directions from there.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Motte |first=Warren |date=2001 |title=Jacques Jouet and the Literature of Exhaustion |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3685760 |journal=Substance |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=45–63 |doi=10.2307/3685760 |jstor=3685760 |issn=0049-2426 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409182743/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3685760 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 1980, he wrote and published another essay, "The Literature of Replenishment".<ref name=":4" />

==Awards==
* 1956: National Book Award finalist for ''[[The Floating Opera]]''<ref name=nba1956>[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1956 "National Book Awards – 1956"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422162148/https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1956/ |date=April 22, 2019}}. [[National Book Foundation]]. Retrieved March 30, 2012.</ref>
* 1965: The [[Brandeis University]] creative arts award<ref name=":2" />
* 1965: The [[Rockefeller Foundation]] grant<ref name=":2" />
* 1966: [[National Institute of Arts and Letters]] grant<ref name=":2" />
* 1968: Nominated for the National Book Award for ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]''<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2012 |title=Two Days at Penn With Short Storyist John Barth |url=https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/three-days-penn-short-storyist-john-barth |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=[[University of Pennsylvania]] |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405181552/https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/three-days-penn-short-storyist-john-barth |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1973: Shared the National Book Award for ''Chimera'' with [[John Edward Williams]] for ''[[Augustus (Williams novel)|Augustus]]''<ref name=nba1973>[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1973 "National Book Awards – 1973"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514094645/https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1973/ |date=May 14, 2019}}. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-30. <br />(With acceptance speech by Barth and two essays by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards' 60-year anniversary blog. The essay nominally about Williams and ''Augustus'' includes Augenbraum's discussion of the shared award.)</ref>
* 1974: Elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]]<ref>{{cite news |date=February 7, 1974 |title=John Barth Among 11 Named To Arts and Letters Body |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/07/archives/john-barth-among-11-named-to-arts-and-letters-body.html |access-date=April 5, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=45 |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405181551/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/07/archives/john-barth-among-11-named-to-arts-and-letters-body.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Shields |first=Brian |date=March–April 2014 |title=Sheridan Libraries acquire John Barth Collection |url=https://hub.jhu.edu/gazette/2014/march-april/john-barth-collection-sheridan-libraries/ |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=[[Johns Hopkins University]] |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405181552/https://hub.jhu.edu/gazette/2014/march-april/john-barth-collection-sheridan-libraries/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1974: Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web |title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=May 18, 2011 |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725002054/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1997: [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Fiction<ref name=":0" />
* 1998: [[Lannan Foundation]] Lifetime Achievement Award<ref>{{cite web |date=October 11, 1998 |title=Barth receives Lifetime Achievement award |url=https://www.deseret.com/1998/10/11/19406216/barth-receives-lifetime-achievement-award/ |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=[[Deseret News]] |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405181551/https://www.deseret.com/1998/10/11/19406216/barth-receives-lifetime-achievement-award/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1998: [[PEN/Malamud Award]]<ref name=":2" />
* 1999: [[Enoch Pratt]] Society's Lifetime Achievement in Letters Award<ref>{{cite web |last= |date=October 28, 1999 |title=Coming soon, John Barth; Writer: Maryland's most celebrated author has the first draft of his 'millennium novel' and will read a bit of it tomorrow. |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/10/28/coming-soon-john-barth-writer-marylands-most-celebrated-author-has-the-first-draft-of-his-millennium-novel-and-will-read-a-bit-of-it-tomorrow/ |access-date=April 5, 2024 |website=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |language=en-US |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405181551/https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/10/28/coming-soon-john-barth-writer-marylands-most-celebrated-author-has-the-first-draft-of-his-millennium-novel-and-will-read-a-bit-of-it-tomorrow/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2008: Roozi Rozegari, Iranian literature prize for best foreign work translation, ''The Floating Opera''<ref>[http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=3313 John Barth Wins Iranian Literary Prize, Powell's Books] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203002146/http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=3313 |date=February 3, 2009}}.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080828201558/http://en.sibegazzade.com/2008/05/john-barth-won-iranian-literary-prize-roozi-rozegari/ John Barth's statement to Iranian literary prize, Roozi Rozegari].</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Novels===
* ''[[The Floating Opera]]'' (1956)<ref>{{cite web |last=Prescott |first=Orville |date=September 3, 1956 |title=The Floating Opera |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-opera.html |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021748/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-opera.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[The End of the Road]]'' (1958)<ref name=":1" />
* ''[[The Sot-Weed Factor (novel)|The Sot-Weed Factor]]'' (1960)<ref>{{cite web |last=Fuller |first=Edmund |date=August 21, 1960 |title=The Joke Is on Mankind |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-sot.html?oref=login |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021748/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-sot.html?oref=login |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Giles Goat-Boy]]'' (1966)<ref>{{cite web |last=Fremont-Smith |first=Eliot |date=August 3, 1966 |title=The Surfacing of Mr. Barth [Laughter] |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-giles.html |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021747/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-giles.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Chimera (Barth novel)|Chimera]]'' (1972)<ref>{{cite web |last=Michaels |first=Leonard |title=Chimera |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-chimera.html |website=The New York Times |date=September 24, 1972 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021749/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-chimera.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[LETTERS]]'' (1979)<ref>{{cite web |last=Edwards |first=Thomas R. |title=A Novel of Correspondences |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-letters.html?_r=2 |website=The New York Times |date=September 30, 1979 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021749/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-letters.html?_r=2 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Sabbatical: A Romance]]'' (1982)<ref>{{cite web |last=Wood |first=Michael |date=June 20, 1982 |title=A metaphoric novel of the sea |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-sabbatical.html |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021747/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-sabbatical.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Tidewater Tales]]'' (1987)<ref>{{cite web |last=Pritchard |first=William |date=June 28, 1987 |title=Between Blam and Blooey |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-tidewater.html?scp=7&sq=Rich%2520and%2520Strange&st=cse |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021748/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-tidewater.html?scp=7&sq=Rich%2520and%2520Strange&st=cse |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor]]'' (1991)<ref>{{cite web |last=Raban |first=Jonathan |date=February 3, 1991 |title=The Sloop of Araby |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-voyage.html?scp=93&sq=lost%2520watch&st=cse |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021748/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-voyage.html?scp=93&sq=lost%20watch&st=cse |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Once Upon a Time: A Floating Opera]]'' (1994)<ref>{{cite web |date=May 29, 1994 |title=Drifting around the island of self |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/05/29/drifting-around-the-island-of-self/ |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |language=en-US |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021749/https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/05/29/drifting-around-the-island-of-self/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Coming Soon!!!]]: A Narrative'' (2001)<ref>{{cite web |last=Schuessler |first=Jennifer |date=November 4, 2001 |title=The End of the Road? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/04/books/the-end-of-the-road.html |access-date=April 8, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021748/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/04/books/the-end-of-the-road.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Where Three Roads Meet]]'' (2005)<ref>{{cite web |last=Friedell |first=Deborah |date=December 25, 2005 |title=If This Were a Headline |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/books/review/if-this-were-a-headline.html |access-date=April 8, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021747/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/books/review/if-this-were-a-headline.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Every Third Thought|Every Third Thought: A Novel in Five Seasons]]'' (2011)<ref>{{cite web |last=Shields |first=Brian |date=October 16, 2015 |title=JHU exhibition celebrates distinguished career of author John Barth |url=https://hub.jhu.edu/2015/10/16/john-barth-exhibition-sheridan-libraries/ |access-date=April 9, 2024 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409021747/https://hub.jhu.edu/2015/10/16/john-barth-exhibition-sheridan-libraries/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Short story collections===
* ''[[Lost in the Funhouse]]: Fiction for Print, Tape, Live Voice'' (1968)<ref>{{cite web |title=Lost in the Funhouse by John Barth, 1968 |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lost-funhouse-john-barth-1968 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=Encyclopedia.com |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409023044/https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lost-funhouse-john-barth-1968 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''On with the Story'' (1996)<ref>{{cite web |last=Lehmann-Haupt |first=Christopher |date=July 11, 1996 |title=Of Love, Fear and Quantum Physics |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-story.html |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409023044/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''The Book of Ten Nights and a Night: Eleven Stories'' (2004)<ref>{{cite web |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=April 20, 2004 |title=John Barth: The Book Of Ten Nights And A Night: Eleven Stories |url=https://www.avclub.com/john-barth-the-book-of-ten-nights-and-a-night-eleven-1798199509 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409023044/https://www.avclub.com/john-barth-the-book-of-ten-nights-and-a-night-eleven-1798199509 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[The Development]]: Nine Stories'' (2008)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Development: Nine Stories |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/john-barth/the-development/ |access-date=April 8, 2024 |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409023044/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/john-barth/the-development/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Collected Stories'' (2015)<ref>{{cite news |last=Burn |first=Stephen |date=December 11, 2015 |title=William H. Gass's 'Eyes' and John Barth's 'Collected Stories' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/books/review/william-h-gasss-eyes-and-john-barths-collected-stories.html |access-date=April 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409023044/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/books/review/william-h-gasss-eyes-and-john-barths-collected-stories.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Nonfiction===
* ''The Friday Book: Essays and Other Nonfiction'' (1984)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Friday Book: Essays and Other Nonfiction |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/john-barth/friday-book/?page=5 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409150211/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/john-barth/friday-book/?page=5 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kendrick |first=Walter |date=November 18, 1984 |title=His peeves and enthusiasms |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-friday.html |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=April 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240410034125/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/21/specials/barth-friday.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Further Fridays: Essays, Lectures, and Other Nonfiction, 1984–1994'' (1995)<ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=John Barth |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/john-barth |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=Encyclopedia.com |archive-date=December 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204012542/https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/john-barth |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Final Fridays: Essays, Lectures, Tributes & Other Nonfiction, 1995–2012'' (2012)<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Final Fridays: Essays, Lectures, Tributes & Other Non-Fiction, 1995–2012 by John Barth |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781582437569 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409150804/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781582437569 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Barth |first=John |url=http://archive.org/details/finalfridaysessa0000bart |title=Final Fridays: essays, lectures, tributes & other nonfiction, 1995– |date=2012 |publisher=Berkeley |others=[[Internet Archive]] |isbn=978-1-58243-756-9}}</ref>
* ''Postscripts (or Just Desserts): Some Final Scribblings'' (2022)<ref>{{cite news |date=April 3, 2024 |title=John Barth, American postmodernist novelist, dies aged 93 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/03/john-barth-death-american-novelist-dies-dead-aged-93 |access-date=April 9, 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |agency=[[Associated Press]] |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=April 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406081135/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/03/john-barth-death-american-novelist-dies-dead-aged-93 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Maryland literature]]

==Notes and references==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
|last      = Clavier
|first     = Berndt
|title     = John Barth And Postmodernism: Spatiality, Travel, Montage
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=toQ34LEfY8oC
|year      = 2007
|publisher = [[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]]
|isbn      = 978-0-8204-6385-8}}
* Dean, Gabrielle, and Charles B. Harris, eds. (2016). ''John Barth: A Body of Words''. Dalkey Archive Press. {{ISBN|978-1-56478-869-6}}.
* {{cite book
|last1       = Fogel
|first1      = Stanley
|last2       = Slethaug
|first2      = Gordon
|author-link2 = Gordon Slethaug
|title       = Understanding John Barth
|url         = https://archive.org/details/understandingjoh0000foge
|url-access  = registration
|year        = 1990
|publisher   = [[University of South Carolina Press]]
|isbn        = 978-0-87249-660-6}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Gerdes
|first      = Eckhard
|author-link = Eckhard Gerdes
|title      = John Barth, Bearded Bards and Splitting Hairs: The Journal of Experimental Fiction Seventeen
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=cdP9lU2_UEQC
|year       = 2001
|publisher  = iUniverse
|isbn       = 978-1-4759-0189-4}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Harris
|first      = Charles B.
|author-link = Charles B. Harris (writer)
|title      = Passionate Virtuosity: The Fiction of John Barth
|url        = https://archive.org/details/passionatevirtuo0000harr
|url-access = registration
|year       = 1983
|publisher  = [[University of Illinois Press]]
|isbn       = 978-0-252-01037-8}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Lindsay
|first     = Alan
|title     = Death in the Funhouse: John Barth and Poststructuralist Aesthetics
|year      = 1995
|publisher = [[Peter Lang Publishing]]
|isbn      = 0-8204-2547-8}}
* Rovit, Earl (Fall 1963), [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00111619.1963.10689779 "The Novel as Parody: John Barth"] {{subscription required}}. ''Critique'' 6. {{doi|10.1080/00111619.1963.10689779}}.
* {{cite book
|last      = Vine
|first     = Richard Allan
|title     = John Barth: an annotated bibliography
|url       = https://archive.org/details/johnbarthannotat0000vine
|url-access = registration
|year      = 1977
|publisher = Scarecrow Press
|isbn      = 978-0-8108-1003-7}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Walkiewicz
|first     = E. P.
|title     = John Barth
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=ak1aAAAAMAAJ
|year      = 1986
|publisher = Twayne Publishers
|isbn      = 978-0-8057-7461-0}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* Vida, Obra y Libros usados [https://web.archive.org/web/20180524222219/http://www.libreriausados.com.ar/Biografias/John-Barth de John Barth]
* {{cite journal |last=Plimpton |first=George |title=John Barth, The Art of Fiction No. 86 |url=http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2910/the-art-of-fiction-no-86-john-barth |journal=The Paris Review |issue=95 |date=Spring 1985|volume=Spring 1985 }} Interview.
* {{webarchive |title=John Barth Information Center |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217204420/http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/barth/ |date=December 17, 2013}}
* {{webarchive |title=Scriptorium – John Barth |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624052355/http://www.themodernword.com/scriptorium/barth.html |date=June 24, 2014}}
* {{webarchive |title=''Reading John Barth'': an essay by Charles Harris (from CONTEXT Quarterly at CenterforBookCulture.org) |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609094526/http://www.centerforbookculture.org/context/no5/harris.html |date=June 9, 2007}}
* [http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/English_Literature/barth/ North American Postmodern Fiction: John Barth]
* [http://www.lannan.org/bios/john-barth Barth audio goodies at the Lannan site]
* [http://www.kcrw.com/people/barth_john Barth on KCRW's radio program 'Bookworm' with Michael Silverblatt]
* [http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/barth.htm "click!"], a short story by John Barth centered on hypertextuality
* {{webarchive |title=National Book Awards Acceptance Speech |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807100045/http://nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_jbarth.html |date=August 7, 2017}}
* {{imdb name|0058544}}
* {{discogs artist|John Barth}}

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