Walter Abish (December 24, 1931 – May 28, 2022) was an Austrian-born American author of experimental novels and short stories.

[5] His second collection, In the Future Perfect, was released in 1977 and utilized words juxtaposed in unusual patterns to form alphanumeric games.

[3] Writing in The Tennessean, Alfred Sims noted that, as in Abish's previous work, "Here again the old war horses of plot and narrative line are sacrificed in favor of reflections on the nature and use of language.

[1][3] Of Abish's prose, the PEN/Faulkner judges (William H. Gass, Tim O'Brien, Elizabeth Hardwick) said: "It helps keep the American novel alive in its time.

[1] But Will Self, reviewing the book in The Independent, wrote: "Abish, unlike a populist film maker, doesn't simply produce snapshots to be passed among the mass.

He tears treasured portraits from our culture's family album and thrusts them into his cunning slide carousel.