03176nam 2200529 450 991079270830332120200520144314.01-4962-0164-71-4962-0166-3(CKB)3710000001178119(MiAaPQ)EBC4845695(OCoLC)984342727(MdBmJHUP)muse56628(Au-PeEL)EBL4845695(CaPaEBR)ebr11377580(CaONFJC)MIL1007548(EXLCZ)99371000000117811920170511h20172017 uy 1engurcnu||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierThe cruft of fiction mega-novels and the science of paying attention /David LetzlerLincoln, [Nebraska] ;London, [England] :University of Nebraska Press,2017.©20171 online resource (vii, 303 pages)Frontiers of narrativeBased on the author's dissertation (doctoral)--City University of New York, 2014.0-8032-9962-1 Includes bibliographical references and index.Introduction : information and attention in the mega-novel -- The dictionary -- The encyclopedia -- Life-writing -- The Menippean satire -- Episodic narrative -- The epic and the allegory -- Conclusion : the fate of the mega-novel.What is the strange appeal of big books? The mega-novel, a genre of erudite tomes with encyclopedic scope, has attracted wildly varied responses, from fanatical devotion to trenchant criticism. Looking at intimidating mega-novel masterpieces from The Making of Americans to 2666, David Letzler explores reader responses to all the seemingly random, irrelevant, pointless, and derailing elements that comprise these mega-novels, elements that he labels "cruft" after the computer science term for junk code. Letzler suggests that these books are useful tools to help us understand the relationship between reading and attention. While mega-novel text is often intricately meaningful or experimental, sometimes it is just excessive and pointless. On the other hand, mega-novels also contain text that, though appearing to be cruft, turns out to be quite important. Letzler posits that this cruft requires readers to develop a sophisticated method of attentional modulation, allowing one to subtly distinguish between text requiring focused attention and text that must be skimmed or even skipped to avoid processing failures. "The Cruft of Fiction" shows how the attentional maturation prompted by reading mega-novels can help manage the information overload that increasingly characterizes contemporary life.Frontiers of narrative.FictionPsychological aspectsReading, Psychology ofFictionPsychological aspects.Reading, Psychology of.808.3Letzler David1516164MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910792708303321The cruft of fiction3752445UNINA