FORGOTTEN BOOKS #79: THE SOT-WEED FACTOR & GILES GOAT-BOY By John Barth



When I was a horny freshman at Marquette University back in 1967, I read John Barth’s classic The Sot-Weed Factor and was blown away. Barth’s faux-18th Century adventure novel takes its narrator, would-be poet Ebenezer Cooke, into a roll-coaster ride of conspiracies, double-dealing, false-identities, comic sexual situations, and mind-bending intrigues. After having my mind turned into pudding by The Sot-Weed Factor, I immediately turned to Barth’s then current best seller, Giles Goat-Boy. Giles Goat-Boy is a allegory of college being the true representation of the world. It sure made a lot of sense to me at the time. Plus, Giles Goat-Boy is full of sex, another plus when you’re 18. As time went by, John Barth and his work slowly receded from the top rank of Fiction Rankings. Barth’s brand of sardonic Black Humor fell out of fashion. But, decades later, I still remember reading these amazing books avidly.

28 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #79: THE SOT-WEED FACTOR & GILES GOAT-BOY By John Barth

  1. Jeff Meyerson

    I had a good friend back then who was always touting Barth and these books as classics, but as you said he has sure faded with time. The only Barth I remember reading was the more straightforward The End of the Road. I still remember the end of the movie version, which was pretty shocking at the time.

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    1. george Post author

      After I read THE SOT-WEED FACTOR and GILES GOAT-BOY I went back and read Barth’s earlier novels, Jeff. I couldn’t believe the guy who wrote the wacky GILES GOAT-BOY wrote the conventional THE END OF THE ROAD. But, as you say, there’s a stinger in the ending.

      Reply
  2. Bill Crider

    I loved both of these, too, though I read them when I was in grad school instead of as an undergrad. I know you’ll believe it when I tell you that I still have the same paperback copies that I read way back then.

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    1. george Post author

      I had the hardcover editions, Bill. But, somehow, in the move from Milwaukee, Wisconsin back to Western New York they were lost.

      Reply
  3. Patti Abbott

    I was a sophomore and couldn’t read Barth and that bunch of post modern writers. Luckily my college didn’t require reading books written after 1800.

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    1. george Post author

      John Barth read a short story from LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE during a literary tour stop that I attended, Drongo. As you say, I hadn’t heard anything like it before. Amazing!

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  4. Todd Mason

    Of course, such tools as William Vollmann, Bret Easton Ellis, and the less untalented George Saunders all attempt to draw on that generation of black humorists…while actually talented writers do so, as well, ranging from Jonathan Lethem to Lorrie Moore.

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    1. george Post author

      I’m with you on Bret Easton Ellis and George Saunders, Todd. But I admit I have a mild fondness for William T. Vollmann. After reading EUROPE CENTRAL, I had to break out my Shostakovich CDs and listen to them again with the insights I gained from Vollman’s book.

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  5. Scott Cupp

    Somehow I never got to Barth, though I had both these for long time. Perhaps one day I will take that plunge. Thanks for listing them.

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    1. george Post author

      The prospect of reading THE SOT-WEED FACTOR and GILES GOAT-BOY is daunting, Scott. They’re long books and demand plenty from the reader. When I was 18, an 800-page book was a breeze. Now…not so much.

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  6. Clare2e

    I was just thinking of Giles Goat-Boy with great resentment the other day! A friend who was in college after me read it, adored it, and made me read it. Being of generally low taste, I was as miserable plodding through its navel-gazing, orgiastic messianism as I was getting through Madame Bovary. I can be dazzled by genius, but it’s not inevitable that brilliance will penetrate my thick coconut. I confess to having railed at my friend (a guy, since I think it may matter in this novel’s case) for having made me lose so much of my precious life and respect for him.

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    1. george Post author

      GILES GOAT-BOY and MADAME BOVARY are an interesting pairing of books, Clare. I can see where some readers can fall under John Barth’s spell, but they shouldn’t inflict their tastes on others.

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  7. Kent Morgan

    I’ve also got both of them in early PB editions. I know I started one of them and gave up. I know I will never read either one so for sure these will be donated the next time I’m trying to weed out (just typed that without thinking) books in my garage.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Reading THE SOT-WEED FACTOR and GILES GOAT-BOY take plenty of fortitude, Kent. Both books are long and demanding. Some would argue the payoff isn’t worth the effort.

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  8. Dan

    I had an aversion to reading these because my a**h**** older brother liked them. But after reading this, and with the fullness of time, I’ll add them to my list.

    Thanks a lot, George.

    Reply
  9. Drongo

    I imagined you would realize that I’d made an error, and remove the aborted comment. That’s what a virtuous former Gator would have done…

    Reply
  10. Drongo

    George, if ever I leave some weird and incomprehensible comment–or at least weirder and more incomprehensible than usual–feel free to delete.

    What I was originally going to say, is how the unfashionable and increasingly obscure John Barth has still managed to attract a fair number of comments. I went to Wikipedia and was surprised to learn he remains among the living. One wonders how he views his lack of popularity these days. Disgust? Amusement? Acceptance?

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  11. famine

    all i remember from sot weed is that the main character craps his pants at least three times throughout the novel…the rest is up there somewhere, although i’m not sure where. tried reading goat boy a few times but boy is that sucker thick. perhaps if i had tried to read it at a younger age i would have had the attention span. nowdays i’m lucky if i can read a whole paragraph let alone string together a few complete sentences of my own, what with all the distractions of the modern world. anyone read COMING SOON??!?!?

    Reply

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