Inspirational Quotes by William H. Gass (American Novelist)

William Howard Gass (1924–2017) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and philosophy professor. He wrote three novels, three collections of short stories, a collection of novellas, and seven volumes of essays are noted for his experimentation with stylistic devices.

Born in Fargo, North Dakota, Gass served in the U.S. Navy during World War II for three and a half years and earned an A.B. in philosophy from Kenyon College (1947) and a PhD in philosophy from Cornell University (1954.) He taught philosophy for 30 years at The College of Wooster, Purdue University, and Washington University, writing criticism and short fiction while working on his 652-page masterpiece, The Tunnel (1995; American Book Award.)

A postmodern author, Gass prized form and language more than literary conventions like plot and character, thus influencing generations of experimental writers. He coined the term “metafiction:” writing in which the author is part of the story. His novels include Omensetter’s Luck (1966) and Willie Masters’ Lonesome Wife (1971,) and his stories are collected as In the Heart of the Heart of the Country (1968.)

As a philosopher, Gass is linked with the Symbolists, New Critics, and the Structuralists, and his works include the explorations The Habitations of the Word (1985) and The Writer and Religion (2000.) He also published several books of essays, including On Being Blue (1976) and Tests of Time (2002.) His final works were the novel Middle C (2013) and the collection of short stories Eyes (2015.)

Gass’s aesthetic theories are set out in Fictions and the Figures of Life (1970.) Arthur M. Saltzman wrote the critical assessment The Fiction of William Gass: The Consolations of Language (1986.)

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