The financial crisis of 2008 quickly gave rise to a growing body of fiction: "crunch lit". Populated by a host of unsympathetic characters and centred around banking institutions, these 'recession writings' take the financial crisis as their central narrative concern to produce a new wave of literary and popular writings that satirise the origins and effects of modern life, consumer culture and the credit boom. Examining a range of texts from such writers as John Lanchester, Jonathan Franzen, Don DeLillo, Sebastian Faulks and Bret Easton Ellis, this book offers the first wide-ranging guide to this new genre. Exploring the key themes of the genre and its antecedents in fictional representations of finance by the likes of Dickens, Conrad, Zola and Trollope, Crunch Lit also includes a timeline of key historical events, guides to further and online resources and biographies of key authors. Supported by online resources, the book is an essential read for students of 21st century literature and culture.

The first critical guide to the new genre of "crunch lit" surveys how contemporary writers have dealt with the 2008 financial crisis.

About the Author

Katy Shaw is Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Literature and Director of C21: Centre for Twenty-First Century Writings at the University of Brighton, UK. Her previous publications include David Peace: Texts and Contexts and Funny Women: Gender and Comedy in the 21st Century.

Book Information
ISBN 9781472506306
Author Dr Katy Shaw
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 390g