The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern American Fiction

Few previous periods in the history of American literature could rival the richness of the postmodern era - the diversity of its authors, the complexity of its ideas and visions, and the multiplicity of its subjects and forms. This volume offers an authoritative, comprehensive, and accessible guide to the American fiction of this remarkable period. It traces the development of postmodern American fiction over the past half-century and explores its key aesthetic, cultural, and political contexts. It examines its principal styles and genres, from the early experiments with metafiction to the most recent developments, such as the graphic novel and digital fiction, and offers concise, compelling readings of many of its major works. An indispensable resource for students, scholars, and the general reader, the Companion both highlights the extraordinary achievements of postmodern American fiction and provides illuminating critical frameworks for understanding it.

• The first comprehensive overview of postmodern American fiction, and therefore a very useful accompaniment to courses in this subject
• Surveys representative genres of postmodern American fiction, and individual chapters can be used to accompany a wide range of thematic, genre, or author-based courses
• Includes up-to-date coverage of new forms of fiction that will appeal to those wishing to read about or teach cutting-edge fiction
• While the volume is critically sophisticated, it is also accessible (all critical terms are glossed within the text), making it appealing to the general reader