Robert Coover Summary

Even before the publication of The Public Burning (1977) made him famous, Robert Coover had already achieved a solid reputation, mostly among academics and college audiences, as one of the most origi... Read more

Critical Essay by Susan Kissel [In the story "The Hat Act," the] metaphor of the failing magician is a powerful one through which Coover suggests both the comedy of the artist's ... Read more

In the following, Horvath offers a favorable review of Pinocchio in Venice. I'm afraid I know how we may soon hear Pinocchio in Venice described: as tour-de-force postmodern intertextuality ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Semrau cites The Origin of the Brunists, The Public Burning, and The Universal Baseball Association as examples of Coover's "musicalization of literature.... Read more

Markey is an educator. In the review below, she offers a favorable assessment of Pinocchio in Venice. Hide your eyes Walt Disney fans. Here comes a scary sequel to Pinocchio designed to squash the ... Read more

In the following favorable review of Pinocchio in Venice, Sage praises the novel's humor, brilliance, and intensity. In 1985 Cardinal Biffi, the Archbishop of Bologna, wrote a theological co... Read more

Critical Essay by George Leonard Denis Johnston wrote of Samuel Beckett that his works were "algebraic, in that his characters have the quality of X. And what X means, depends not upon him, bu... Read more

Critical Essay by Larry Mccaffery [The] fiction of Robert Coover is tightly unified by its metafictional impulses. In examining the concept of man-as-fiction-maker, nearly all of Coover's work... Read more

Critical Essay by Caryn James Robert Coover's stories are mind games with a heart. In Bed One Night and Other Brief Encounters humanizes language games and literary theorizing, and, remarkably... Read more

Critical Essay by Robert Scholes Metafiction assimilates all the perspectives of criticism into the fictional process itself. It may emphasize structural, formal, behavioral, or philosophical qualiti... Read more

Critical Essay by Jerome Klinkowitz If the Cat in the Hat were to publish novels for adults, they would probably read like the works of Robert Coover. A magician with both words and circumstances, Co... Read more

Critical Essay by Charla Gabert Charlie in the House of Rue is a miniature tragicomedy which takes as its point of departure the character and conventions of a Charlie Chaplin film. The leading chara... Read more

Critical Essay by Jon Zonderman Robert Coover has turned Chaplin on his head. In Charlie in the House of Rue Coover has placed the Little Tramp in a house where his timing, no matter how perfect, can... Read more

In the following review, McLaughlin praises John's Wife, calling the novel “funny, moving, shocking, revealing, thought-provoking.” Over a thirty-year career, Robert Coover has... Read more

In the following review of Briar Rose, Upchurch praises the novel, though notes that Coover's “manneristic flourishes and acrobatic syntax” will make the work inaccessible to some... Read more

In the following positive review, McLaughlin compliments Briar Rose, calling it a “classic by a contemporary master.” Last year, Robert Coover marked the thirtieth anniversary of his ... Read more

In the following negative review, Davis criticizes Coover's prose in Ghost Town. Like Mel Brooks, Robert Coover relies heavily upon pastiche and parody, but his attempt at a western is in qu... Read more

In the following excerpt, Kearns offers a negative assessment of Pinocchio in Venice. Would there were some text-specific Lethe-water one could swallow after reading Robert Coover's Pinocchi... Read more

In the following essay, Joris examines Coover's metafictional approach to literature and his affinity for cinematic technique, as demonstrated by the title story of A Night at the Movies. I ... Read more

In the following essay, Petitjean argues that the narrative design of Coover's short story “The Babysitter” is intended to elicit multiple readings and interpretations. Robert ... Read more