Contemporary American Fiction

Contemporary American Fiction PDF Author: Nick Hornby
Publisher: Vision Press (NM)
ISBN: 9780312042134
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
"Contemporary American Fiction concentrates on a group of writers who have achieved prominence in the '80s, and in particular those writers anthologized in Granta's two highly influential collections, Dirty Realism and More Dirt. The book includes a major essay on Raymond Carver, arguably the most important literary figure of the decade; there is also a discussion of the work of Richard Ford and Tobias Wolff, friends of Carver, whose writing shows similar sensibilities." "The last decade has seen a revival of interest in the short story; special attention is paid here to the emerging group of women writers--Bobbie Ann Mason, Joy Williams, Jayne Anne Phillips and Elizabeth Tallent, among others--whose stories continue the tradition of Eudora Welty, Willa Cather and Flannery O'Connor." "This study is a wide-ranging and readable introduction to the American 'New Wave' of writers, and contains interviews with some of the key figures. It will be of interest to anyone who has read and enjoyed the most vibrant writing to have come out of the U.S. for years."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Contemporary American Fiction

Contemporary American Fiction PDF Author: Nick Hornby
Publisher: Vision Press (NM)
ISBN: 9780312042134
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Get Book

Book Description
"Contemporary American Fiction concentrates on a group of writers who have achieved prominence in the '80s, and in particular those writers anthologized in Granta's two highly influential collections, Dirty Realism and More Dirt. The book includes a major essay on Raymond Carver, arguably the most important literary figure of the decade; there is also a discussion of the work of Richard Ford and Tobias Wolff, friends of Carver, whose writing shows similar sensibilities." "The last decade has seen a revival of interest in the short story; special attention is paid here to the emerging group of women writers--Bobbie Ann Mason, Joy Williams, Jayne Anne Phillips and Elizabeth Tallent, among others--whose stories continue the tradition of Eudora Welty, Willa Cather and Flannery O'Connor." "This study is a wide-ranging and readable introduction to the American 'New Wave' of writers, and contains interviews with some of the key figures. It will be of interest to anyone who has read and enjoyed the most vibrant writing to have come out of the U.S. for years."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction

Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction PDF Author: Thomas D. Clareson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Discusses writers such as Poul Anderson, Brian W. Aldiss, Isaac Asimov, J.G. Ballard, Alfred Bester, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Ray Bradbury, Algis Budrys, Edgar Rice Burroughs, John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Hal Clement, Samuel R. Delany, Lester del Rey, Philip K. Dick, Gordon R. Dickson, Thomas Disch, Harlan Ellison, Philip Jose Farmer, Randall Garrett, Robert A. Heinlein, Zenna Henderson, Frank Herbert, Damon Knight, Cyril Kornbluth, Ursula K. Le Guin, Murray Leinster, Anne McCaffrey, Judith Merril, A. Merritt, Walter M. Miller Jr., Michael Moorcock, Andre Norton, Alexei Panshin, H. Beam Piper, Frederik Pohl, Joanna Russ, Robert Silverberg, Clifford D. Simak, Cordwainer Smith, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Norman Spinrad, Theodore Sturgeon, Jack Vance, A.E. van Vogt, Kurt Vonnegut, Donald Wollheim, RogerZelazny, Jack Williamson, and others.

Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction

Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction PDF Author: Kenneth Millard
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748629548
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
This book explores the ways in which a range of recent American novelists have handled the genre of the 'coming-of-age' novel, or the Bildungsroman. Novels of this genre characteristically dramatise the vicissitudes of growing up and the trials and tribulations of young adulthood, often presented through depictions of immediate family relationships and other social structures. This book considers a variety of different American cultures (in terms of race, class and gender) and a range of contemporary coming-of-age novels, so that aesthetic judgements about the fiction might be made in the context of the social history that fiction represents. A series of questions are asked:* Does the coming-of-age moment in these novels coincide with an interpretation of the 'fall' of America?* What kind of national commentary does it therefore facilitate?* Is the Bildungsroman a quintessentially American genre?* What can it usefully tell us about contemporary American culture? Although the focus is on the conte

Postwar American Fiction and the Rise of Modern Conservatism

Postwar American Fiction and the Rise of Modern Conservatism PDF Author: Bryan M. Santin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108974236
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
Bryan M. Santin examines over a half-century of intersection between American fiction and postwar conservatism. He traces the shifting racial politics of movement conservatism to argue that contemporary perceptions of literary form and aesthetic value are intrinsically connected to the rise of the American Right. Instead of casting postwar conservatives as cynical hustlers or ideological fanatics, Santin shows how the long-term rhetorical shift in conservative notions of literary value and prestige reveal an aesthetic antinomy between high culture and low culture. This shift, he argues, registered and mediated the deeper foundational antinomy structuring postwar conservatism itself: the stable social order of traditionalism and the creative destruction of free-market capitalism. Postwar conservatives produced, in effect, an ambivalent double register in the discourse of conservative literary taste that sought to celebrate neo-aristocratic manifestations of cultural capital while condemning newer, more progressive manifestations revolving around racial and ethnic diversity.

Travel and Dislocation in Contemporary American Fiction

Travel and Dislocation in Contemporary American Fiction PDF Author: Aliki Varvogli
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136627030
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
This book offers a critical study and analysis of American fiction at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It focuses on novels that ‘go outward’ literally and metaphorically, and it concentrates on narratives that take place mainly away from the US’s geographical borders. Varvogli draws on current theories of travel globalization and post-national studies, and proposes a dynamic model that will enable scholars to approach contemporary American fiction and assess recent changes and continuities. Concentrating on work by Philip Caputo, Dave Eggers, Norman Rush and Russell Banks, the book proposes that American literature’s engagement with Africa has shifted and needs to be approached using new methodologies. Novels by Amy Tan, Garrison Keillor, Jonathan Safran Foer and Dave Eggers are examined in the context of travel and globalization, and works by Chang-rae Lee, Ethan Canin, Dinaw Mengestu and Jhumpa Lahiri are used as examples of the changing face of the American immigrant novel, and the changing meaning of national belonging.

The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction, 2 Volumes

The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction, 2 Volumes PDF Author: Patrick O'Donnell
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119431719
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : de
Pages : 1607

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Book Description
Fresh perspectives and eye-opening discussions of contemporary American fiction In The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction: 1980-2020, a team of distinguished scholars delivers a focused and in-depth collection of essays on some of the most significant and influential authors and literary subjects of the last four decades. Cutting-edge entries from established and new voices discuss subjects as varied as multiculturalism, contemporary regionalisms, realism after poststructuralism, indigenous narratives, globalism, and big data in the context of American fiction from the last 40 years. The Encyclopedia provides an overview of American fiction at the turn of the millennium as well as a vision of what may come. It perfectly balances analysis, summary, and critique for an illuminating treatment of the subject matter. This collection also includes: An exciting mix of established and emerging contributors from around the world discussing central and cutting-edge topics in American fiction studies Focused, critical explorations of authors and subjects of critical importance to American fiction Topics that reflect the energies and tendencies of contemporary American fiction from the forty years between 1980 and 2020 The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction: 1980-2020 is a must-have resource for undergraduate and graduate students of American literature, English, creative writing, and fiction studies. It will also earn a place in the libraries of scholars seeking an authoritative array of contributions on both established and newer authors of contemporary fiction.

The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction

The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction PDF Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061661589
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 788

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Book Description
A definitive collection of the very best short stories by contemporary American masters Edited by Joyce Carol Oates, "the living master of the short story" (Buffalo News), and Christopher R. Beha, this volume provides an important overview of the contemporary short story and a selection of the very best that American short fiction has to offer.

Neo-realism in Contemporary American Fiction

Neo-realism in Contemporary American Fiction PDF Author: Kristiaan Versluys
Publisher: Rodopi
ISBN: 9789051833546
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description


Planetary Memory in Contemporary American Fiction

Planetary Memory in Contemporary American Fiction PDF Author: Lucy Bond
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135102616X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
This book considers the ways in which contemporary American fiction seeks to imagine a mode of ‘planetary memory’ able to address the scalar and systemic complexities of the Anthropocene – the epoch in which the combined activity of the human species has become a geological force in its own right. Authors examine the recent emergence of a literary and cultural imaginary of planetary memory, an imaginary which attempts to give form to the complex interrelations between human and non-human worlds, between local, national, and global concerns, and, perhaps most importantly, between historical and geological pasts, presents and futures. Chapters highlight distinct regions and landscapes of the US - from the Appalachians, to the South West, the Rust Belt, New York City, Alaska, New Orleans and the Rocky Mountains – in order to examine how the ecological, economic and historical specificity of these environments is underpinned by their implication on networks of planetary significance and scope. Overall, the collection aims to study, develop, and recognise new models of cultural memory and anxious anticipation as they emerge and evolve, thus opening new conversations about practices of remembering and remembrance on an increasingly fragile planet. This book was originally published as a special issue of Textual Practice.

Libra

Libra PDF Author: Don DeLillo
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101042176
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
From the author of White Noise (winner of the National Book Award) and The Silence, an eerily convincing fictional speculation on the events leading up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy In this powerful, unsettling novel, Don DeLillo chronicles Lee Harvey Oswald's odyssey from troubled teenager to a man of precarious stability who imagines himself an agent of history. When "history" presents itself in the form of two disgruntled CIA operatives who decide that an unsuccessful attempt on the life of the president will galvanize the nation against communism, the scales are irrevocably tipped. A gripping, masterful blend of fact and fiction, alive with meticulously portrayed characters both real and created, Libra is a grave, haunting, and brilliant examination of an event that has become an indelible part of the American psyche.