JONATHAN BAYLISS
WRITINGS
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"In its formal virtuosity, in its brilliant,
experimental systemization of plot and setting, in the deep seriousness
with which it lays out ideas of tragedy, gender, work, religion, desire,
moral responsibility ... Bayliss's tetralogy stands as a signal
accomplishment in American letters." "Jonathan Bayliss uses language in a way that makes our native
tongue come alive for us as though we were experiencing it for
the first time in all its freshness and hard-edge originality." "Gloucesterbook is a genuine achievement, a literary work of true
originality. The real hero here is Place." "The novels of Jonathan
Bayliss prove that Walt Whitman was right when he said that
scientists are the lawgivers of poets." |
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Prologos |
Gloucesterbook |
Gloucestertide |
Gloucestermas |
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GLOUCESTERMAN is fiction by Jonathan Bayliss (1926-2009). The four related novels are headed by Prologos and include the trilogy Gloucesterbook, Gloucestertide, and Gloucestermas. The novels are available at www.drawbridgepress.com and www.amazon.com. Bayliss also wrote two plays, The Tower of Gilgamesh (or the Iso-Recto-Tetrahedron) and The Acts of Gilgamesh, which are included in the novels. See Gilgamesh Plays for the playscript versions. Jonathan Bayliss studied at Harvard, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and finished his A.B. at the University of California at Berkeley. While writing his two plays and the GLOUCESTERMAN novels, the work of a lifetime, Bayliss earned his livelihood in positions involved with sales analysis, accounting controls, and management, beginning in 1950 at a Berkeley bookstore. In the 1960’s, as controller at Gorton’s of Gloucester, the frozen-fish processor, he initiated the development of integrated business systems using the IBM 360 mainframe computer. He also supervised the design and construction of Gorton’s modern headquarters in Gloucester. After leaving Gorton’s in 1972, he devoted the next five years to full-time writing. Later he worked for the City of Gloucester as an aide to the mayor and as city treasurer. In 1985 he resumed full-time writing. Bayliss was putting the finishing touches on his final novel when he died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 2009 at the age of 82. All work is protected by copyright, but selections may be downloaded for personal use by the curious reader. Note on opening the PDF files: Be patient, since they are large: Prologos (133 mb, Gloucesterbook (72 mb), Gloucestertide (84 mb). |
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"Jonathan Bayliss writes
uncompromisingly cerebral books, and their rewards for the
committed reader are many. This series is too important to
be neglected as difficult or academic. " |
"... a
work that is elegant, historically rooted, careful in its articulations,
so well crafted, respectful and yet sometimes outrageously forthright,
deeply human behind the mode of its comic understatement." |
"There's a vivacity, a profusion of intellect,
style, detail, an exuberance and plenitude that recall Melville's or, at
other moments, Whitman's." |