David Green's novel Atchley furthers the contemporary dialogue between "deconstructionist" philosophy and "postmodern" fiction with the propounding of an engaging literary enigma: Has a certain author of "Borgesian" fictions invented the critic who writes about him, or has an ingenious critic invented the author about whom he has become a leading expert? An author (named Atchley) has achieved critical acclaim by coupling an imagistically opulent narrative with a theoretical treatise on his own work. Now Atchley (this book) offers just such a narrative as well as a seemingly straightforward "deconstruction" of it. Does the book "actually" present Atchley's own auto-commentary? Is David Green Atchley? The work spins out these questions and others, only to have them dissolve, if not resolve, in the narrative itself, a work of singular lyrical intensity and haunting beauty. Taken as a whole, Atchley is a genuine inquiry into the relationship between two styles of writing, two uses of mind, and two ways of being.
