Language of Fiction

Robert Alter is Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of numerous critical works, including the prize-winning The Art of Biblical Narrative.

In this exuberant meditation on the language of fiction, Robert Alter once again demonstrates that, as a sensitive reader of prose, he has no match. Considering figurative language and the intertwining of language, rhythm, and syntax, Alter shows how great novelists use the resources of language to convey a unique vision and for the sheer pleasure of inventiveness.