Dec 30, 2009

What We Cannot Speak About We Must Pass Over in Silence | Critical Overview

The work of John Edgar Wideman arouses strong responses in readers, and critics are no exception. His work, too demanding to achieve mass popularity, is largely read in colleges and universities, where he enjoys a distinguished reputation as a black intellectual who is steeped in Western culture but who is gradually rediscovering his African roots. It has been remarked that a college education is needed to negotiate his complex prose style and understand his erudite references to various artists and philosophers. His stories and novels combine ghetto experiences with experimental fiction...