"The novel of exhaustion," a contemporary literary term with several synonyms, describes fiction whose subject is fiction in the making, the creative process in action. It is often manifested in parodic forms and an indulgence in private fantasy which threaten to become precious. But in its sophisticated examples this species of reflexive writing sports with and flaunts the mechanics of the imagination and the devices of expression. "Novel" becomes a descriptive adjective rather than remaining an unquestioned noun; the form becomes a quality, justifying its claim to novelty. Its motives still reverence the light-bearers, Apollo and Prometheus, but its patron is the self-regarding, echo-haunted Narcissus. Robert Kroetsch's novels The Studhorse Man and Gone Indian reflect this postmodern approach to the house of fiction…. (p. 10)

[Kroetsch] has often commented on his practice in writing, and one sees that a particular approach to his work necessarily involves its techniques as...