During its twenty-five years as a work-in-progress, William H. Gass's mammoth magnum opus became a legend of the literary world, the Sasquatch of contemporary American fiction. Along with an included interview with the author, the contributors to this study help situate Gass's challenging narrative within the remarkable career of a notable philosopher, essayist, and author of fiction.

Contributors examine the book's quarrel with history, its engagement with issues of ethics and aesthetics, its representation of personality, its distinctive style and structure, its sophisticated metafictional texture, along with much else. What is going on in The Tunnel is not always immediately apparent, but the essays included in here tease out its secrets and concentrate our attention on details of an exasperating and exhilarating literary achievement.