SOURCE: Roe, Barbara L. “Part 1: The Short Fiction.” In Donald Barthelme: The Short Fiction, pp. 3-93. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992.

In the following excerpt, Roe surveys Barthelme's later fiction and reflects on his legacy as a short fiction author.

Mortal Visions “visitors”

In 1981, when Barthelme turned 50, he seemed pleased with the view from this lookout. The years, he said, had tempered his anger over humanity's folly and taught him to “cherish” life more and more as there is “less and less time” (Brans, 131). The implications of mortality, however, preoccupy Barthelme's last decade of stories, as aging characters debate, deny, or crusade for their remaining prospects. Not surprisingly, gray often betokens their uncertain status. Depending on a character's perspective, for instance, gray hair is either the gloomy wreath of death or the respectable laurels of experience. Though Bishop, the 49-year-old protagonist of “Visitors,” still idles in the holding tank...