Kirby Gann

"From e.e. cummings to William Gass to Susan Mitchell, this anthology brings together works by assorted authors whose writing truly is at "play"--where the very words on the page seemingly have a life of their own and conjure up dramatic illusions.... Some of the strongest images deal with injustices toward women, whether it be the cheating husband in Sunetra Gupta's 'From Memories of Rain,' the dead sister in Rick Moody's 'The Mansion on the Hill,' the woman writing under the pseudonym of a man in Kristina McGrath's 'From A Scribbler's Life,' or the beaten slave girl in Patrick Chamoiseau's 'The 18 Dream-Words that Atoukal Gave Him.' Throughout, the descriptive language breathes life into words, giving them dimensions all their own. Recommended for all libraries."



"This unusual collection of 36 writings is unlike most anthologies of mixed genres; its common element, claim editors Gann and Herbert--themselves writers--is a sense of 'play,' by which they do not mean 'merely lighthearted, whimsical riffs,' but rather works by 'writers who show creative delight, who explore the possibilities within the compound sentence, within composed phrases.'... There is much here to enjoy."

A Fine Excess: Contemporary Literature at Play gathers writings of various styles and genres that reflect the intense possibilities of the creative act, where language and structure rise above the strictly functional. The writers here display a gift for inventiveness that cannot settle for conventional notions of expression; instead they seek to widen our vocabulary for emotional and intellectual expression, providing works built on complication, risk, clarity, and ambition. They create a literature which delights in itself, which finds in the act of creation the joy of imagination in free reign.