Overview
Understanding Jennifer Egan is the first book-length study of the novelist, short-story writer, and journalist best known for the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad. Alexander Moran examines each of Egan's varied published works, analyzes how her journalism informs her fiction, excavates her literary and intellectual influences, and considers her place in contemporary fiction. Moran argues that because Egan's fiction is not easily categorized many of her novels have been underappreciated. He proposes a framework for understanding her writing centered on what it means to have, and to write, an ""authentic"" experience. In Emerald City, Egan explores the authenticity of touristic experience; in The Invisible Circus, her focus shifts to the authenticity of historical memory; in Look at Me, The Keep, and A Visit from the Goon Squad, she explores the effects of digital technology on how we understand authentic experience. In the concluding chapter, Moran discusses Egan's 2017 novel Manhattan Beach as a text that explores the authenticity of history and genre while resonating with the instability of the present.
Full Product Details
Author: Alexander Moran
Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
Imprint: University of South Carolina Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 1.60cm
, Length: 23.00cm
Weight: 0.350kg
ISBN: 9781643362243
ISBN 10: 1643362240
Pages: 144
Publication Date: 30 September 2021
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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.
Reviews
Understanding Jennifer Egan is an exceptionally useful tool for any researcher wishing to understand Egan's significance in contemporary American fiction, detailing her consistent attention to current events and changing global trends and power structures. -- U.S. Studies Online
One feels that Moran has read absolutely everything by or about Egan, which gives this slim book an effect of usefully compressed analysis, and should make it valuable for students and other scholars. -- Studies in the Novel Understanding Jennifer Egan is an exceptionally useful tool for any researcher wishing to understand Egan's significance in contemporary American fiction, detailing her consistent attention to current events and changing global trends and power structures. -- U.S. Studies Online
"One feels that Moran has read absolutely everything by or about Egan, which gives this slim book an effect of usefully compressed analysis, and should make it valuable for students and other scholars. -- ""Studies in the Novel"" Understanding Jennifer Egan is an exceptionally useful tool for any researcher wishing to understand Egan's significance in contemporary American fiction, detailing her consistent attention to current events and changing global trends and power structures. -- ""U.S. Studies Online"""
Author Information
Alexander Moran, Faculty Chair for Excellence in Undergraduate and Graduate Writing at Stanbridge University, is the editor of Conversations with Jennifer Egan.
