Barthelme, Donald 1931–

Barthelme, a persistent experimenter, especially in the short story form, is a frequent contributor to the New Yorker. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 21-22.)

It's hard to dislike [Snow White's] urbane craziness, its oblique, understated but diversified reservations about human possibility, its arch dryness, its blasé verbal horseplay. That kind of ambition it fulfills, and it may be beside the point to demand more clarity and a more substantial, less dilettantish, critique. Not all of it is good, but what is (the hilarious Hogo, for one) is very good. There are departures we simply have to grant, like the use of headlinish capitals. Nothing wrong or remarkable about such an emphasis. Not Henry James, you might say. The very opposite of subtle. But it is done boldly and confidently, and the visual variety is effective and engaging. Nothing to freak out over, or especially praise, but OK. And to...

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