Arcadio: A Novel - Softcover

"[A] triumph of the imagination. . . . the overwhelming power of a myth brought to life." --Publishers Weekly "William Goyen's new novel Arcadio ranks among his most powerful and original visionary works. It virtually pulses with life; it is both audacious and wise; a timeless fable that manages to be boldly contemporary as well." --Joyce Carol Oates

Completed while he was dying, William Goyen's Arcadio is one of the most affecting and imaginative farewells to life ever written. Arcadio, whose voice is inimitably Goyenesque, is a creature from beyond the normal walks of life. Half man, half woman, raised in a whorehouse and for years the veteran exhibitionist in an itinerant circus sideshow, he has escaped from the show and has been wandering in a quest for his lost family. Speaking intimately to the reader, he tells the bizarre and fantastic tale of his life. This unforgettable novel is the crown of Goyen's exploration of the forms and feelings that could be compassed within fiction.