R.I.P. Evan S. Connell
One reason this book might not might not be so well known is because it is uncharacteristic of the artist’s oeuvre. Then again, one of the things that has kept Connell less known than he should be is that his oeuvre isn’t easily described: his territory shifts with each volume, absenting him from categorization. Eccentric, idiosyncratic, he writes what he wants. Throughout his body of work there is a consistent clarity, an unblinking authorial eye that doesn’t render judgment but simply presents his characters real and imagined, writ large and small, leaving room for the reader to participate in the creation of the narrative.
—From A. M. Homes’s introduction to The Diary of a Rapist by Evan S. Connell, who passed away today.
