Summary
The Rainbow Stories is a collection of short stories about American culture[1] written by William T. Vollmann and published in 1989. Written in the style of narrative journalism,[2] it was his second published fictional work, preceded by You Bright and Risen Angels.[2] The book consists of thirteen interlocking stories (based on the colours of the rainbow) that range in scope from ancient Babylon to modern San Francisco.[2][3][4][5] Steven Moore wrote of the book that "Vollmann's verbal prowess, empathy, and astonishing range put him in a class apart from his contemporaries."[6] Robert Rebein described the book as a "real breakthrough"[7] for Vollman, stating: "[Rainbow Stories is] a book that mixed reportorial and fictional techniques to powerfully evoke the lives of prostitutes and skinheads on the streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin district."[7]
 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | William T Vollmann |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Andre Deutsch (UK) Atheneum Books (US) |
Publication date | January 1989 (UK) July 1989 (US) |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 544pp |
| ISBN | 978-0-689-11961-3 |
| Preceded by | You Bright and Risen Angels |
| Followed by | The Ice-Shirt |
Contents edit
The 13 stories included in the book are:
- "The Visible Spectrum"
- "The White Knights"
- "Red Hands"
- "Ladies and Red Lights"
- "Scintillant Orange"
- "Yellow Rose"
- "The Yellow Sugar"
- "The Green Dress"
- "The Blue Wallet"
- "The Blue Yonder"
- "The Indigo Engineers"
- "Violet Hair"
- "X-Ray Visions"
References edit
- ^ Mason, Fran (2009). The A to Z of Postmodernist Literature and Theater. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 337. ISBN 0-8108-6855-5.
- ^ a b c Hemmingson, Michael (2009). William T. Vollmann: A Critical Study and Seven Interviews. McFarland & Company. pp. 22–30. ISBN 0-7864-4025-2.
- ^ LeClaira, Tom (1996). "The Prodigious Fiction of Richard Powers, William Vollmann, and David Foster Wallace". Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 38 (1): 12–37. doi:10.1080/00111619.1996.9936496.
- ^ James, Caryn (August 13, 1989). "'The Rainbow Stories'". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Eder, Richard (July 16, 1989). "The Yawp of Reason". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Moore, Steven (Summer 1989). "The Rainbow Stories: Review of Contemporary Fiction". Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ a b Rebein, Robert (2002). Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists: American Fiction After Postmodernism. Scholarly Book Services Inc. p. 54. ISBN 0-8131-2176-0.