Planetary Pynchon (Hardcover)

Tore Rye Andersen

ISBN 10: 1009377574 / ISBN 13: 9781009377577

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2023

About this Item

Hardcover. While Thomas Pynchon is usually described as an American author who primarily writes about American reality, Planetary Pynchon: History, Modernity, and the Anthropocene argues that his major novels, Gravity's Rainbow, Mason & Dixon, and Against the Day, can profitably be read as a global trilogy that presents a coherent historical account of how the emergence and spread of European modernity across the world have had devastating consequences for the planet and its inhabitants. This book sets a new agenda in Pynchon studies, charting his early anticipation of anthropocenic and planetary ideas, including globalization's demand for constant growth. It combines close textual readings with broad perspectives on large thematic arcs and stylistic developments across Pynchon's entire career as well as an extensive dialogue with the rich reception of his work. The book provides a revolutionary new reading of Thomas Pynchon's three major historical novels as a coherent global trilogy. It shows how the rise and spread of modernity led to the current age of the Anthropocene. This original reading provides a new understanding of one of the most important contemporary authors. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781009377577

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Planetary Pynchon (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009377574
• ISBN 13: 9781009377577
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

While Thomas Pynchon is usually described as an American author who primarily writes about American reality, Planetary Pynchon: History, Modernity, and the Anthropocene argues that his major novels, Gravity's Rainbow, Mason & Dixon, and Against the Day, can profitably be read as a global trilogy that presents a coherent historical account of how the emergence and spread of European modernity across the world have had devastating consequences for the planet and its inhabitants. This book sets a new agenda in Pynchon studies, charting his early anticipation of anthropocenic and planetary ideas, including globalization's demand for constant growth. It combines close textual readings with broad perspectives on large thematic arcs and stylistic developments across Pynchon's entire career as well as an extensive dialogue with the rich reception of his work.

About the Author

Tore Rye Andersen is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Aarhus University. He is the author of Den nye amerikanske roman/The New American Novel (2011), and he has published numerous articles on Thomas Pynchon and other American and British authors in journals such as Critique, Narrative, and Poetics Today.