In the Heart of the Heart of the Country

In the Heart of the Heart of the Country is a collection of five short stories published by William H. Gass in 1968. The stories take place in small Midwestern towns and rural landscapes. The title story follows a poet living in isolation in Indiana, while other pieces focus on different characters grappling with life in confined geographic and social spaces. Gass employs varied narrative structures and experimental prose techniques throughout the collection. The stories examine themes of loneliness, desire, and the relationship between physical place and psychological state. Through precise language and layered narratives, Gass explores how landscape and environment shape human consciousness and behavior.

Readers appreciate Gass's dense, poetic prose and experimental style, with many noting the title novella as the strongest piece. Reviews highlight his ability to capture Midwestern isolation and winter landscapes through precise language and imagery. Multiple readers draw comparisons to James Joyce's style. Common criticisms focus on the abstract, challenging nature of the writing. Several readers found the stories pretentious and difficult to follow. One Goodreads reviewer noted: "Beautiful sentences that add up to nothing." Others mentioned the slow pacing and lack of traditional plot structure as barriers. Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (1,100+ ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (40+ ratings) LibraryThing: 4.0/5 (200+ ratings) The most frequent response pattern shows readers either loving or struggling with Gass's style, with little middle ground. One Amazon reviewer summed up the divide: "This is poetry disguised as prose - you'll either be mesmerized by the language or frustrated by the lack of conventional storytelling."

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson A collection of interconnected stories depicts the loneliness and isolation of small-town Midwest life through precise, poetic prose.

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell The narrative weaves memory and imagination to explore loss and violence in a rural Illinois community through fragmented, experimental storytelling.

The Things That Keep Us Here by Peter Orner Stories set in the American Midwest capture the minutiae of domestic life and personal history through dense, lyrical observations.

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy The story follows a man's existence on the margins of society in Tennessee through philosophically rich descriptions and meditations on place.

The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway Connected stories trace a character's life through the Michigan wilderness with spare, cutting prose that explores masculinity and isolation.

🔖 The book's title comes from a line in a poem by Theodore Roethke, "In a Dark Time," which explores themes of isolation and self-discovery. 📚 William H. Gass spent over 30 years writing his masterwork "The Tunnel" while teaching philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis. 📖 The collection contains five interconnected stories, with the title story being partially based on Gass's own experiences living in rural Indiana. 🏆 Though not widely known by general readers, this 1968 book is considered highly influential among writers and is frequently taught in creative writing programs for its innovative use of language. 🎭 The book pioneered a unique narrative technique Gass called "metafiction," where the text constantly reminds readers they are reading a work of fiction rather than trying to create an illusion of reality.