Contemporary American Fiction provides an introduction to American fiction since 1970. Offering substantial and detailed interpretations of more than thirty texts by thirty different writers, Millard combines them in an innovative critical structure designed to promote debates on cultural politics and aesthetic value. The book is the first of its kind to offer a wide-ranging survey of recent developments in the fiction of the United States. Recent novels by established writers such as John Updike and Philip Roth are analysed alongside the fiction of younger writers such as Gish Jen and Sherman Alexie. The books innovative structure encourages new ways of thinking about how American writers might be configured in relation to each other, while providing an analysis of how contemporary fiction has responded to changes in central areas of American life such as the family, the media, technology, and consumerism. Contemporary American Fiction is a substantial critical introduction to some of the most exciting fiction of the last thirty years, an eclectic and thorough advertisement for the extraordinary vitality of American fiction at the end of the twentieth century. This is an excellent introduction to the subject for undergraduate students of modern American literature.

About the Author
Kenneth Millard is Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh

Reviews
This comparatively slender volume has a lot to offer.. The author provides convincing analysis and fresh observations, which create a 'literary map' for the readers to start their own explorations of vital and diverse US literary development. What's also important, he does this in a clear language, practically devoid of professional jargon. * Vladimir Prozorov, Karelian Pedagogical University. American Studies International Vol xxxix, No 2. *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198711780
Author Kenneth Millard
Format Paperback
Page Count 340
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 401g
Dimensions(mm) 215mm * 138mm * 18mm