Between the two poles of first-person narration and the inaccurately named ‘third-person’ narration lies another, rarely glimpsed, possibility. This is second-person narration, and it is something of a freak: Michel Butor’s La Modification and Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City are among the rare examples.
Second-person narration always looks odd, perhaps in part because it is so rare but mainly because of the ambiguities it inevitably entails. Take the opening of the final story in Tom Petsinis’s new collection, The Lion Tamer:
The Death of Pan by Tom Petsinis
Penguin, $22.00 pb, 239 pp
ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.
Animals
Literary Lives
History
Poem
Theatre
Fiction
Opera
Australian History
If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.
If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.
Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.