LEADER 03773nam 2200685 450 001 9910815189203321 005 20220502153825.0 010 $a0-8014-6288-6 010 $a0-8014-6287-8 024 7 $a10.7591/9780801462870 035 $a(CKB)3170000000065179 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10822180 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000870129 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11474709 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000870129 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10808156 035 $a(PQKB)10304803 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0001499054 035 $a(OCoLC)861793338 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse28815 035 $a(DE-B1597)480077 035 $a(OCoLC)1013950674 035 $a(OCoLC)979579711 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780801462870 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3138557 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10822180 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL681333 035 $a(OCoLC)922998413 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3138557 035 $a(EXLCZ)993170000000065179 100 $a20110525d2012 uy| 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aAggressive fictions $ereading the contemporary American novel /$fKathryn Hume 210 1$aIthaca :$cCornell University Press,$d2012. 215 $a1 online resource (217 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a1-322-50051-7 311 $a0-8014-5001-2 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages [185]-193) and index. 327 $aThe author-reader contract -- The narrative speed in contemporary fiction -- Modalities of complaint -- Conjugations of the grotesque -- Violence -- Attacking the reader's ontological assumptions -- Why read aggressive fictions? 330 $aA frequent complaint against contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such as Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, and Don DeLillo's Underworld seem determined to upset, disgust, or annoy their readers-or to disorient them by shunning traditional plot patterns and character development. Kathryn Hume calls such works "aggressive fiction." Why would authors risk alienating their readers-and why should readers persevere? Looking beyond the theory-based justifications that critics often provide for such fiction, Hume offers a commonsense guide for the average reader who wants to better understand and appreciate books that might otherwise seem difficult to enjoy.In her reliable and sympathetic guide, Hume considers roughly forty works of recent American fiction, including books by William Burroughs, Kathy Acker, Chuck Palahniuk, and Cormac McCarthy. Hume gathers "attacks" on the reader into categories based on narrative structure and content. Writers of some aggressive fictions may wish to frustrate easy interpretation or criticism. Others may try to induce certain responses in readers. Extreme content deployed as a tactic for distancing and alienating can actually produce a contradictory effect: for readers who learn to relax and go with the flow, the result may well be exhilaration rather than revulsion. 606 $aAggressiveness in literature 606 $aAmerican fiction$y20th century$xHistory and criticism 606 $aAmerican fiction$y21st century$xHistory and criticism 615 0$aAggressiveness in literature. 615 0$aAmerican fiction$xHistory and criticism. 615 0$aAmerican fiction$xHistory and criticism. 676 $a813/.5409 700 $aHume$b Kathryn$f1945-$0458540 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910815189203321 996 $aAggressive fictions$94070981 997 $aUNINA