Thirty years in the making, William H. Gass's second novel first appeared on the literary scene in 1995, at which time it was promptly hailed as an indisputable masterpiece. It is the story of a middle-aged professor who, upon completion of his massive historical study, Guilt and Innocence in Hitler's Germany, sets out to write an introduction. Unable to do so, he finds himself writing about his own life instead, an intensely personal—even private—book that runs counter to the rigidity of his historical work. Isolated, he begins digging a tunnel out of the basement where he writes.

In this unabridged audio version of The Tunnel, William H. Gass, himself, reads his universally acclaimed novel in its entirety. Formatted as an mp3, the reading fits on three CDs. It includes outtakes, artwork by the author, and twelve Philippics (descriptions of the novel's intention). The Tunnel, already renowned for its singular tone, is given a powerful new voice in this reading.