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This Is Not a Novel (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)

This Is Not a Novel has the feel of a valediction. “Farewell and be kind,” the book concludes, appropriating the last words of Robert Burton’s singular treatise, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1628). David Markson, in his mid-seventies and evidently in poor health, appears to bid adieu not only to the reader of this slender book but also to the craft that has been his life’s passion and heartache for nearly half a century. Notwithstanding this long career as a novelist, Markson’s published works of fiction are comparatively few. Following the appearance of three...

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