Maximalism in Contemporary American Literature: The Uses of Detail

Author:   Nick Levey
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:  

9781138672260


Pages:   186
Publication Date:   15 December 2016
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Maximalism in Contemporary American Literature: The Uses of Detail


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Overview

This book begins a new and foundational discussion of maximalism by investigating how the treatment of detail in contemporary literature impels readers to navigate, tolerate, and enrich the cultural landscape of postindustrial America. It studies the maximalist novels of David Foster Wallace, Nicholson Baker, Thomas Pynchon, and others, considering how overly-detailed writing serves the institutional, emotional, and intellectual needs of contemporary readers and writers. The book argues that maximalist novels not only exceed perceived limits of style, subject matter, and scope, but strive to remake the usefulness of books in contemporary culture, refreshing the act of reading. Levey shows that while these novels are preoccupied with detail and description, they are relatively unconcerned with the traditional goals of representation. Instead, they use detail to communicate particular values and fantasies of intelligence, enthusiasm, and ability attached to the management of complex and excessive information. Whether reinvigorating the banal and trivial in mainstream culture, or soothing anxieties of human insufficiency in the age of automation and the internet, these texts model significant abilities, rather than just objects of significance, and encourage readers to develop habits of reading that complement the demands of an increasingly detailed culture. Drawing upon a diverse range of theoretical schools and cultural texts, including Thing Theory, Marxism, New Formalism, playlists, blogs, and archival manuscripts, the book proposes a new understanding of maximalist writing and a new way of approaching the usefulness of literary objects in contemporary culture.

Full Product Details

Author:   Nick Levey
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.385kg
ISBN:  

9781138672260


ISBN 10:   1138672262
Pages:   186
Publication Date:   15 December 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Giants and Junk: Power-Reading Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow 2. On Flunking: Maximalist Description in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest 94 3. Data-Sickle: Maximalism and White-Collar Aesthetics in David Foster Wallace's The Pale King 4. Just Maximalist Things: Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine and Objects of Curiosity 5. Housebound: Domestic Excess in Nicholson Baker’s Room Temperature 6. Mindless Pleasures: Playlists, Unemployment, and Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice Conclusion: Overflow: The Margins of American Maximalism

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Author Information

Nick Levey teaches in the English Department at La Trobe University, Australia. He publishes on contemporary fiction and is currently writing about post-press literature and the rise of digital self-publishing.

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