"LARRY MCCAFFERY: Do you recall the germinating idea for The Dead Father? DONALD BARTHELME: A matter of having a father and being a father. MCCAFFERY: In some basic sense the book deals with the notion that we’re all dragging around behind us the corpses of our fathers, as well as the past in general. BARTHELME: Worse—dragging these ahead of us. I have several younger brothers, among them my brother Frederick, who is also a writer. After The Dead Father came out, he telephoned and said, “I’m working on a new novel.” I said, “What’s it called?” and he said “The Dead Brother.” You have to admire the generational wit there."
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“Interview with Larry McCaffery”, p. 270
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Not-Knowing%3A_The_Essays_and_Interviews_of_Donald_Barthelme
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Not-Knowing: The Essays and Interviews of Donald Barthelme
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