Jonathan Bayliss

Jonathan Bayliss (born September 7,1926 in Arlington, Massachusetts) is an American novelist and playwright who lives and writes in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was a close friend of poet Charles Olson after Olson's return to Gloucester in the late 1950's. Bayliss's highly innovative and polymathic novels employ a vast vocabulary, contain mathematical and philosophical puzzles, and avoid pop culture references in favor of historical and mythological allusions.

Gloucesterman

Bayliss's "Gloucesterman" tetralogy explores the concepts of mythology and ritual throughout history; the value of collective human endeavor to society; the tension between the mysteries of art and science; and the degradation of culture through economic exploitation. "Gloucesterbook" and its sequel "Gloucestertide" create a fiction-world out of Gloucester similar to the Wessex of Thomas Hardy. The introductory volume "Prologos" was published in 1999. The final volume of the tetralogy, "Gloucestermas", is still in progress.

Works

* "Gloucesterbook" (Protean Press, Rockport MA 1992)
* "Gloucestertide" (Protean Press, Rockport MA 1996)
* "Prologos" (Basilicum Press, Ashburnham MA 1999)
* "Gloucestermas" in progress

External links

* [http://www.baylisswritings.net/ Writings of Jonathan Bayliss] Bayliss's website featuring all of his novels freely available for download.
* [http://www.gilgameshplays.net/ The Gilgamesh Plays] Bayliss's other website featuring both of his Gilgamesh plays freely available for download.
* [http://www.jonathanbayliss.com/ The Gloucesterman Website] A website dedicated to the analysis and appreciation of Bayliss's "Gloucesterman" novels.