The Novel Now - Hardcover

Bradford, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405113855 ISBN 13: 9781405113854

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006

Synopsis

The Novel Now is an intelligent and engaging survey of contemporary British fiction.

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• Discusses familiar names such as Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, and Angela Carter and compares them with more recent authors, including David Mitchell, Ali Smith, A.L. Kennedy, Matt Thorne, Nicola Barker, and Toby Litt
  
• Incorporates original coverage of subgenres such as chick lit, lad lit, gay fiction, crime fiction, and the historical novel
  
• Discusses the ways in which notions of regional identity and tribalist views have surfaced in UK and Irish fiction, and how post-Imperial sensibility has become a feature of the ‘British’ novel
  
• Situates contemporary fiction within its socio-cultural and literary contexts.

About this title

Book Description:

This will be the first comprehensive single-authored survey of the complex landscape of contemporary fiction in Britain and Northern Ireland, covering the period from 1970 to the present day. Author Richard Bradford, who is Professor of English at the University of Ulster, provides a detailed account of familiar figures such as Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, Salmon Rushdie, Angela Carter and Will Self and also considers the relationship between their work and that of more recent arrivals, including David Mitchell, Ali Smith, A.L. Kennedy, Matt Thorne, Nicola Barker and Toby Litt. The survey is by its nature polemical, since there is as yet no consensus about whom or what the most important writers and contexts are. What it offers, however, is a thorough account of the state of contemporary fiction in Britain, within which the reader can situate their own interests or against which they can offer an alternative agenda. The book incorporates coverage of subgenres such as ldquo;chick litrdquo;, ldquo;lad litrdquo;, crime fiction and the historical novel. It also examines the ways in which gender, sexuality and sexual orientation have been addressed in fiction over the past three decades and considers how tensions between regional, national and racial identity have surfaced in British and Northern Irish fiction. The book is evaluative, supplementing an account of the novelists who have risen to prominence over the past few decades with judgments on the quality of their work.

From the Back Cover:

The Novel Now is a scrupulous and entertaining account of what has happened to British fiction since 1970. It exposes pretentious and self-indulgent writers and celebrates those novelists whose qualities are exceptional. The book will show that enjoyment and critical scrutiny are not mutually exclusive activities; it is designed to appeal both to general readers and scholars.

Richard Bradford examines both emerging and celebrated authors, considering the work of rising literary stars and weighing their merits against more established figures. Through rigorous evaluation and reflection, the author takes a look at where literature has been, and where it is going. Incorporating coverage of subgenres such as ‘chick lit’, ‘lad lit’, crime fiction and the historical novel, this volume also examines the ways in which gender, sexuality and sexual orientation have been addressed in fiction over the past three decades.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1405113855
• ISBN 13: 9781405113854
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 271