Overview

Through the perspectives of selected best-selling novels from the end of World War II to the end of the 20th century--including The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Godfather, Jaws, Beloved, The Silence of the Lambs, and Jurassic Park--this book examines the crucial issues the U.S. was experiencing during those decades. These novels represent the voices of popular conversations, as Americans considered issues of family, class, racism and sexism, feminism, economic ambition, sexual violence, war, law, religion and science. Through the windows of fiction, the book surveys the Cold War and anti-communism, the prefeminist era of the 1950s and the sexual revolution of the 1970s, forms of corporate power in the 1960s and 1980s, the traumatic legacies of slavery and Vietnam, the American fascination with lawyers, cops and criminals, alternate styles of romance in the era of late capitalism, our abiding distrust of science, and our steadfast wonder about the Great Mysteries.

Full Product Details

Author:   David Willbern
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 1.30cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   0.458kg
ISBN:  

9780786474509

ISBN 10:   0786474505
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   05 April 2013
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents Preface Introduction  1. Solitary Men: Boys in the City (I, the Jury, The Catcher in the Rye)  2. Social Women: Girls in Small Towns (Peyton Place, To Kill a Mockingbird)  3. Family Business and the American Dream (The Carpetbaggers, The Godfather)  4. Feminism Aloft and Adrift (Fear of Flying, Looking for Mr. Goodbar)  5. Appetites and Anxieties: The Unfathomed, the Undead, the Under Toad (Jaws, Interview with the Vampire, The World According to Garp)  6. Taking Care of Business (The Bonfire of the Vanities, I’ll Take Manhattan)  7. American Trauma (Misery, The Things They Carried, Beloved)  8. Law and Order (Presumed Innocent, The Silence of the Lambs, The Firm)  9. Romance in the Age of Late Capitalism (Rabbit at Rest, The Bridges of Madison County, Five Days in Paris) 10. Science and Superstition (Contact, Jurassic Park, Angels & Demons) Conclusion: History / Story Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

"""a rich spin through the popular literary consciousness of the past several decades...a useful, engaging book. Recommended""--Choice."

a rich spin through the popular literary consciousness of the past several decades...a useful, engaging book. Recommended --<i>Choice</i>.

Author Information

David Willbern is professor emeritus of English at SUNY Buffalo, where he served as director of the Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Culture. He lives in Placitas, New Mexico.

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