Lost in the Funhouse (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Barth
- First Published: 1967
- Type of Plot: Metafiction
- Time of Work: Independence Day during World War II
- Setting: Ocean City, Maryland
- Principal Characters: Ambrose, Peter, Magda, The narrator
- Genres: Short fiction, Metafiction
- Subjects: Adolescence, Sex or sexuality, Fear, Holidays
- Locales: Ocean City, MD
The Story
In “Lost in the Funhouse,” the author, John Barth, writes a story about someone, a narrator, who is himself writing a story about Ambrose, a boy of thirteen. In writing the story about Ambrose, the narrator also comments on the techniques of fiction and the problems and concerns that confront a writer of fiction who is trying to write a story. To complicate the matter further, the narrator may or may not be Ambrose. If the narrator is Ambrose, then Ambrose is writing a story about Ambrose writing a story about Ambrose.
“Lost in the Funhouse” is from a...
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