On the sentence I really love in the description for the week’s final new
scholarly book.
There seems to be a lot to like about Kathryn Hume’s Aggressive
Fictions: Reading the Contemporary American Novel (2011; so not as new
as the others in the series, but I just learned about it at the conference):
her readings of about forty (!) late 20th and early 21st
century novels; her striking variety of authors, genres, and themes/topics
within that wide-ranging collection of texts; her willingness to confront head
on, and then make the case for, some of the most challenging and frustrating
elements of contemporary fiction. But I’ll admit that my central interest in
Hume’s book stems from one particular sentence in the book’s description: “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.”
Amen. A scholarly book both written for general audiences and making the
case for the importance of its focal subjects for such audiences. A. Freaking.
Men. Nothing else I need to say!
Crowd-sourced post this weekend,
Ben
PS. So one more time: new
(or classic) AmericanStudies books you’d highlight? Share for the weekend post!
Ben and Fellow Bloggers,
ReplyDeleteAggressive Fiction is not really a new concept for me in describing works of prose, but it is a new and interesting label (I didn't know there was a word for that).
I will check out the writing you talked about. Hopefully, I'll be able to use it as a source in my Critical and Creative Thinking class - where we are debating and talking about the pros and cons of Horrific Art (visual art, movies, music, prose, etc.)
Take Care
Roland A. Gibson, Jr.
FSU IDIS Major