The State of the Novel
Britain and Beyond

"Few critics have mastered the terrain of contemporary British fiction as Dominic Head has done, and that mastery is fully evidenced here."
–Jim English, University of Pennsylvania

"The State of the Novel is perceptive, lucid, intelligent, and accessible throughout. A welcome addition to critical work on contemporary fiction, which should appeal to diverse readerships."
–Andrzej Gasiorek, University of Birmingham

Dominic Head (Author)

9781405170116, Wiley

Hardback, published 29 August 2008

184 pages
23.9 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.435 kg

“Head contemplates the contemporary novel and its readers, scholarly and general, offering a reminder of the form's potential. Serious fiction interrogates social and political issues and plays an important part in the ‘process of acculturation’ and in the formation of identity and understanding of the self.” (CHOICE, March 2009)

"The first half of Head's book benefits from a tight focus on analysing the relationship between the contemporary cultural fields on England and the US, and the literary novel genre … .I particularly liked the readings Head offers of the peculiarly British sub-genre of the 'seaside novel' ". (Times Higher Education Supplement, January 2009)

Part of the Blackwell Manifestos series, The State of the Novel offers a lively, yet rigorous investigation into the state and future of the contemporary British novel written by an expert in the field.

• Evaluates the state of the ‘serious literary’ novel and novel criticism
• Prominent treatment is paid to the ‘internationalization’ of the novel in English
• Offers a manifesto on contemporary fiction from an expert in this field; Dominic Head is best known for his Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction 1950-2000
• Establishes the shared interests of contemporary theorists of the novel, cultural commentators, and novel consumers
• An ideal supplementary text for students and faculty interested in the novel and contemporary fiction

Introduction.

1. The Post-Consensus Renaissance?.

Subject Areas: Literature: history & criticism [DS]