By William H. Gass
ISBN: 9781628976366
eBook:9781628976373
Audiobook: 9781628976380
Publication date: April 7th, 2026
Perhaps even more chillingly relevant today than it was thirty years ago, this gripping and deeply personal interrogation of fascism returns to print at last in a remarkable full-color anniversary edition.
The Tunnel, William H. Gass’ colossal second novel, thundered onto the literary scene in 1995 after three decades at the typewriter. Hailed by many as an indisputable masterpiece, reviled by others as a suffocating and overwhelming experiment, The Tunnel has been voraciously studied by readers ever since. This is the story of a middle-aged history professor who, upon nearing completion of his magnum opus, Guilt and Innocence in Hitler's Germany, finds himself implicated in his own research and begins to write a parallel work of history: his own life’s story. Fearing that someone might find these confessional pages, he begins to dig a tunnel out from beneath his home in an attempt to hide—or escape—from the past that he has so diligently cataloged.
The Tunnel is many things: an awe-inspiring and apocalyptic novel that reckons with the accumulating brutality of the twentieth century; a mirror, asking readers to confront their own potential for darkness; and the crowning achievement of one of America’s great prose stylists.
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To celebrate this highly anticipated reissue, Dalkey Archive Press launched a new companion, The Tunnel Reader, featuring archival essays by esteemed writers in addition to new critical essays.
The unabridged audiobook of The Tunnel, read by William Gass himself, has also been re-released on April 7th, 2026.
The Tunnel & The Tunnel Reader
Includes print paperback editions of each book.
The Tunnel & Audiobook
Includes a print paperback edition of The Tunnel and the digital audiobook.
All Three
Includes a print paperback edition of The Tunnel and The Tunnel Reader, and the digital audiobook.