TY  - GEN
T1  - Aggressive fictions : reading the contemporary American novel
A1  - Hume, Kathryn, 1945-
LA  - English
PP  - Ithaca
PB  - Cornell University Press
YR  - 2012
UL  - https://ebooks.jgu.edu.in/Record/jstor_eba_ocn861793338
AB  - A frequent complaint about contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such as Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, and Don DeLillo's Underworld seem determined to upset, disgust, or annoy their readers--or to disorient them by shunning traditional plot patterns and character development. Kathryn Hume calls such works "aggressive fictions." Why would authors risk alienating their readers--and why should readers persevere? Looking beyond the theory-based justifications that critics often provide for such fiction, Hume offers a commonsense guide for the average reader who wants to better understand and appreciate books that might otherwise seem difficult to enjoy. In her reliable and sympathetic guide, Hume considers roughly forty works of recent American fiction, including books by William Burroughs, Kathy Acker, Chuck Palahniuk, and Cormac McCarthy. Hume gathers "attacks" on the reader into categories based on narrative structure and content. Writers of some aggressive fictions may wish to frustrate easy interpretation or criticism. Others may try to induce certain responses in readers. Extreme content deployed as a tactic for distancing and alienating can actually produce a contradictory effect: for readers who learn to relax and go with the flow, the result may well be exhilaration rather than revulsion. -- Book jacket.
OP  - 200
CN  - PS374.A38 H86 2012eb
SN  - 9780801462870
SN  - 0801462878
SN  - 9780801450013
SN  - 0801450012
KW  - Aggressiveness in literature.
KW  - American fiction : 20th century : History and criticism.
KW  - American fiction : 21st century : History and criticism.
KW  - Aversion in literature.
KW  - Agressivité dans la littérature.
KW  - Roman américain : 20e siècle : Histoire et critique.
KW  - Roman américain : 21e siècle : Histoire et critique.
KW  - Aversion dans la littérature.
KW  - LITERARY CRITICISM : American : General.
KW  - Aggressiveness in literature
KW  - American fiction
KW  - Aversion in literature
KW  - Roman
KW  - Aggression : Motiv
KW  - USA
KW  - Englisch.
KW  - Roman.
KW  - Aggressivität.
KW  - USA.
KW  - Geweld.
KW  - Romans.
KW  - Amerikaans.
KW  - Amerikanisches Englisch.
KW  - American fiction : History and criticism : 20th century.
KW  - American fiction : History and criticism : 21st century.
KW  - Våld i litteraturen.
KW  - Aggression.
KW  - Aversioner.
KW  - Amerikanska romaner : historia : 1900-talet y 2000-talet.
KW  - 1900-2099
KW  - Electronic books.
KW  - Criticism, interpretation, etc.
ER  -