When at last The Runaway Soul was published in 1991 for an advance in excess of $1 million, it promptly went belly up.

It was Brodkey's first book in 30 years, and presaged his much-heralded but ultimately disappointing first novel The Runaway Soul.

So far as "The Runaway Soul" is any demonstration, this theory proves a prescription for madness.

Most of the stories were written to be part of his novel The Runaway Soul and concern its characters.

The reviews of The Runaway Soul were mixed, and some quite negative.

"The Runaway Soul is absolutely the last book you want to say this about, but it could have used a rewrite."

Somehow, when The Runaway Soul , a novel of some 800 pages, finally appeared in 1991, it was an anticlimax.

But it took him 27 years to complete his first novel, the 835-page "Runaway Soul," which was published in 1991.

His first novel, "The Runaway Soul," 27 years in the writing, was published to poor reviews in October 1991.

More than most novels, "The Runaway Soul" defies description.