Reconsidering Thomas Williams

reviewed by John McIntyre

Issue No. 155 ~ April, 2010

The Hair of Harold Roux is a densely layered novel, but despite the metafictional elements in play, Irving’s characterization of Williams as “a wonderfully old-fashioned writer…that dinosaur among contemporary writers of fiction, an actual storyteller,” is sound. These qualities are in fact the foundation of my regard for Thomas Williams.