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 oftcited metafictional masterwork to illuminate the profound commitment to language that his narrative risks entail. Foremost among Barth s concerns, Hungerford argues, is the multifaceted relationship between language and love. Desire can drive a narrative, or disrupt it. Language can create desi