Five Stories for Philip Guston

Five contemporary writers respond to Gustons work through imaginative fiction that proves his continual influence on todays creative culture In the short story collection Five Stories for Philip Guston, edited by Emmie Francis and Mark Godfrey, contemporary writers Christopher Alessandrini, Ben Okri, Thessaly La Force, Lou Stoppard and Audrey Wollen have created new fiction in conversation with Philip Guston (191380) and his painting. Christopher Alessandrinis queer, drily witty Maverick Road brings us to the contemporary environs of Gustons upstate haven. Ben Okris Bloodymindedness is a stark portrait of violence and subversion. In Looking, Thessaly La Force writes of the lingering power of painting and reputation with a tribute to Gustons exhibition in Venices Gallerie dellAccademia. Lou Stoppards courtroom crucible A Verdict is a study in Kafkaesque atmosphere. Audrey Wollen works deftly with a kind of Oulipo constraint exerciseGiotto is there, but is Guston himself in The Line? Look for him, and he is everywhere.