On This Page
Description
The long-awaited novel by master Stephen Dixon, twice a finalist for the National Book Award, I. is a searingly powerful and seemingly autobiographical novel in the form of linked stories that explores the limitations of memory and the frustrations of the narrator's life, as he cares for his two daughters and his handicapped wife, whose condition worsens as the narrator struggles with his own sense of mortality. I. is hardcover, with cover art by acclaimed graphic novelist Dan Clowes.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Painful and unpleasant, almost unbearable to read, I stopped 30 pages from the end (this is exceedingly rare). The form is interesting enough, a novel written as a series of unfinished short pieces by the protagonist, but ends up seeming sloppy and incomplete. The biggest problem it the subject: unprocessed, bitter anger at people enduring chronic, debilitating disease. If this book doesn't make you uncomfortable, you don't how to read.
This book is f*#king depressing. Well written, okay, but save yourself the anguish.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
One Letter Titles
31 works; 4 members
One Letter Books
26 works; 1 member
Author Information
39+ Works 1,248 Members
Stephen Dixon was a hyper-realistic author of novels and short stories. Working on a portable typewriter, he published 18 novels and about 600 stories.Mr. Dixon played with syntax and diction and used narrative tricks that made his fiction compelling and challenging. In his very short short story Wife in Reverse, Mr. Dixon started with a woman¿s show more death and ended years earlier, when she meets her husband. Mr. Dixon started teaching at the writing seminars at Johns Hopkins University in 1980 and stayed until he retired in 2007. Porochista Khakpour, a novelist and memoirist, said Mr. Dixon had been the reason she studied at Hopkins. Dixon¿s honors include several O. Henry Awards and Pushcart Prizes, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment of the Arts grants. He was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1991, for Frog, and in 1995, for Interstate. Stephen Bruce Ditchik was born on June 6, 1936, in Manhattan, the fifth of seven children. His father, Abraham, was a dentist; his mother, Florence (Leder) Ditchik, was a chorus girl and beauty queen and later an interior designer. His mother changed their last name to Dixon after her husband went to prison for extortion. After graduation Dixon moved to Washington, where he worked for pulp crime magazines and as a radio reporter. Later, back in Manhattan, he was an editor at CBS News. But after starting to write short stories he knew he found his calling. He wrote for major magazines like Esquire and Playboy and for literary reviews and journals, none of them too obscure for him to send pitches to. Stephen Dixon passed away on 11/06/2019 at the age of 83. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 181
- Popularity
- 180,025
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.15)
- Languages
- English, Italian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
