Donald Barthelme: The Genesis of a Cool Sound

246 Pages·2001·2.182 MB·English

by  Helen Moore Barthelme

Donald Barthelme
Number Thirteen:
Tarleton State University
Southwestern Studies in the Humanities
William T. Pilkington, Series Editor

Helen Moore Barthelme
Donald Barthelme
The Genesis of a Cool Sound
Texas A&M
University Press
College Station
Copyright © 2001 by Helen Moore Barthelme
Manufactured in the United States of America
All rights reserved
First edition
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, z39.48-1984.
Binding materials have been chosen for durability.
(cid:1)(cid:1)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barthelme, Helen Moore, 1927–
Donald Barthelme : the genesis of a cool sound / Helen Moore
Barthelme.
p. cm. — (Tarleton State University southwestern studies in the
humanities ; no. 13)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn1-58544-119-8 (alk. paper)
1. Barthelme, Donald. 2. Barthelme, Donald—Marriage. 3. Ex-
perimental fiction, American—History and criticism. 4. Authors,
American—20th century—Biography. 5.Barthelme, Helen Moore,
1927–—Marriage. 6. Postmodernism (Literature)—United States.
I. Title. II. Series.
ps3552.a76 z58 2001
813(cid:2).54—dc21
00-012208
For my sisters
Odell Moore
and
Margo Vandruff

“I would concurrently be working in fiction like Glenn Miller
in that awful picture, searching for a cool sound.”
Don Barthelme to Joe Maranto,
from Korea, September28, 1954
“The essence of our calling is right behavior.”
King Arthur in The King

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
11
First Encounter 3
12
Never Suffer Fools 15
13
A Draftee Searching for a “Cool Sound” 22
14
Then Wear the Gold Hat 35
15
Discovery of Godot 46
16
Life with a Literary Genius 58
17
Forum:Working in a Vacuum 70
18
The Creation of a Strange Object 90
19
The Writing of Come Back, Dr. Caligari 102
10
Contemporary Arts Museum 110
11
CAA and the New 119
12
The Promise of New York 126
13
New York at Last 133
14
Loss and Possibility 141
15
A New Life Begins for Don 152
16
Casting Chrysanthemums on His Grave 160
17
Don Enters My Life Again 166
18
The Final Years and The King 178
Notes 193
Index 199