Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2000. [Vol. 6.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Book reviews - Judit Ágnes Kádár: Zoltán Abádi-Nagy: Világregény— Regényvilág: Amerikai íróinterjúk (The Novel of the World—The World of the Novel: Conversations with American Writers.)

The structure of Abádi-Nagy's book reflects his own understanding of the development of the novel form from the rather conventional, through Vonnegut's 'pop novel', Doctorow's pseudo-historical fiction and Gaddis's entropic satire, towards the radical formal experimentation of Sukenick and Federman, both of whom seem to break with the traditional concept of the mimetic function of literature and to create a self-reflexive world of fiction. The preface invites us to join him for a visit to the workshop of these writers, where in fact the act of writing as craft and the various narrative strategies are meticulously studied. The selection of the text of interviews is difficult but firm hands and critical eyes enable the author to (re)construct the dialogues, add significant critical remarks and data, as well as introduce with scholarly precision his understanding of the recent developments of American fiction. At the beginning of each section the interviewer shares with us his first impressions on the writer, for instance a description of Vonnegut's outlook, complexion, smoking and talking habits (AbádiNagy: Világregény

, 81), or the first-hand personal impression confronting the pre-interview preconceptions regarding Gaddis's inaccessible image (119). The interviewer often adds his own opinion regarding the 'second (post-interview) impression' of the given artist, for example Mélységes humánumtól fűtött, az ostobaságot és esztelenséget tűrni képtelen, hatalmas műveltségű író, aki a mai élet nagy összefüggéseibe ágyazva, széthullásképietü szatirikus parabolákban vizsgálja egyén és világ viszonyát. [Gaddis is a writer of deep humanity and impressive erudition, who cannot stand any form of stupidity or folly. In addition, he investigates the relationship of the individual and the world in satirical deconstruction parables that are embedded in the greater context of contemporary life.

—Trans, mine.] (120) These subjective perceptions help us develop an image of the novelist as well as visualize the conversation between the novelist and the interviewer. In addition, this method establishes some kind of a personal touch, a virtual link between the world of the reader and that of the novelist. Following the brief introduction, a summary of the given writer's literary output is provided before the actual dialogue. The critic/journalist often briefly refers to issues already discussed in 210