John Barth

John Barth
Barth in 1995
Barth in 1995
Born(1930-05-27)May 27, 1930
Cambridge, Maryland, U.S.
DiedApril 2, 2024(2024-04-02) (aged 93)
Bonita Springs, Florida, U.S.
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • academic
Education
Period1956–2022
Genre
Notable awardsNational Book Award
1973 Chimera

John Simmons Barth (/bɑːrθ/;[1] May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include The Sot-Weed Factor, a whimsical retelling of Maryland's colonial history; Giles Goat-Boy, a satirical fantasy in which a university is a microcosm of the Cold War world; and Lost in the Funhouse, a self-referential and experimental collection of short stories. He was co-recipient of the National Book Award in 1973 for his episodic novel Chimera.