The Art of Mystery: The Search for Questions

by Maud Casey

Overview

A sensitive and nuanced exploration of a seldom-discussed subject by an acclaimed novelist

The fourteenth volume in the Art of series conjures an ethereal subject: the idea of mystery in fiction. Mystery is not often discussed—apart from the genre—because, as Maud Casey says, “It’s not easy to talk about something that is a whispered invitation, a siren song, a flickering light in the distance.” Casey, the author of several critically acclaimed novels, reaches beyond the usual tool kit of fictional elements to ask the question: Where does mystery reside in a work of fiction? She takes us into the Land of Un—a space of uncertainty and unknowing—to find out and looks at the variety of ways mystery is created through character, image, structure, and haunted texts, including the novels of Shirley Jackson, Paul Yoon, J. M. Coetzee, and more. Casey’s wide-ranging discussion encompasses spirit photography, the radical nature of empathy, and contradictory characters, as she searches for questions rather than answers. The Art of Mystery is a striking and vibrant addition to the much-loved Art of series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781555977948
Publisher:	Graywolf Press
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Series:	Art of... Series
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	815,084
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Maud Casey is the author of three novels, most recently The Man Who Walked Away, and a story collection, Drastic. She is the grateful recipient of the Italo Calvino Prize, the St. Francis College Literary Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in Washington, D.C. and teaches at the University of Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

09/25/2017
In the 14th volume of Graywolf’s The Art Of series, novelist Casey (The Man Who Walked Away) analyzes the inscrutable and enigmatic elements in the work of James Baldwin, Shirley Jackson, Henry James, and others. Casey applies the term “mystery” broadly (and astutely), describing it as “a whispered invitation, a siren song, a flickering light in the distance.” One would not ordinarily think of Baldwin, for example, as a writer of the mysterious, but Casey’s exploration of his use of windows in “Sonny’s Blues” shows the story to be about the “deep-space mystery of interiority”—the near impossibility of truly knowing another person. Casey demonstrates the potential for a single object to be imbued with dynamic mystery through Flannery O’Connor’s story “Good Country People” and its main character’s wooden leg. Casey also delves into 19th-century Spiritualism, the use of the subliminal in photographic art, and the paintings of Andrew Wyeth. Her analysis illuminates the behind-the-scenes work authors do to cultivate a seemingly effortless air of mystery, such as O’Connor’s “training the reader’s gaze” on that leg, or Baldwin’s impressionistic descriptions. Those seeking to understand how to bring the ineffable into their own writing would do well to start here. Agent: Alice Tasman, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. (Jan. 2018)

Publishers Weekly

Ms. Casey summarizes the plots of her selected texts copiously, but her abiding message brings confidence that she hasn’t given too much away.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Books on writing should be inspiring and should remind writers—and readers—why we fell in love with stories in the first place. The Art of Mystery does just this.”—The Gazette (Cedar Rapids)

“[The Art of Mystery] delves concretely and satisfyingly into the complex pleasures this particular literary climate has to offer.”—Pasatiempo

"A slim but substantial exploration of the concept of mystery in literature."—Shelf Awareness

“A rich survey looking beyond the usual academic treatment, for writers and readers alike.”—Library Journal, starred review

“This slim but astute volume is an inducement both to read more deeply and to head for ever more unchartered, frozen, mysterious waters.”—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2017-11-14
Not whodunit, but why and how it works.Ask a professional how great fiction is created, and you will usually receive an answer about the importance of a good plot, descriptive language, and writing "what you know about." Casey (English/Univ. of Maryland; The Man Who Walked Away, 2014, etc.) goes for something deeper: how do great writers create that alluring kind of bewilderment that makes literary fiction unique? "Mystery in fiction," she writes, "means taking the reader to that land of Un—uncertainty, unfathomability, unknowing. It's Kafka's axe to the frozen seas of our souls. In other words, it will—and it should—mess you up." Using a variety of compelling examples, the author shows the myriad ways mystery can seduce and conquer. Writers like Isaac Babel create a structure of innocence where readers, along with his young protagonists, reach an epiphany. Mystery can make characters come alive as we learn a character's secrets; perhaps even more so when we don't. As the writer Paul Yoon tells Casey, just knowing that one of his characters has an undisclosed secret may be a way of knowing him "more deeply, having caught a glimpse into something so very private." Mystery can also pull us deep into the lives of terrible people—e.g., the protagonist of J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians—or ones, such as Merricat in Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in a Castle, whom we'd best avoid. These writers know how to normalize the most brutal or absurd private worlds. There is also imagery—whether it's poor Hulga's wooden leg in Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" or the multiplicity of windows in James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues"—that can transform the very environment of the story itself.For Casey, the search is the thing, whether as a writer or reader. This slim but astute volume is an inducement both to read more deeply and to head for ever more unchartered, frozen, mysterious waters.

Kirkus Reviews