| Description |
ix, 264 pages ; 22 cm |
| Summary |
"In this new collection of interviews, some of America's most prominent novelists identify the key intellectual developments that led to the rise of the contemporary biographical novel, discuss the kind of historical 'truth' this novel communicates, indicate why this narrative form is superior to the traditional historical novel, and reflect on the ideas and characters central to their individual works. These interviews do more than just define an innovative genre of contemporary fiction. They provide a precise way of understanding the complicated relationship and pregnant tensions between contextualized thinking and historical representation, interdisciplinary studies and 'truth' production, and fictional reality and factual constructions. By focusing on classical and contemporary debates regarding the nature of the historical novel, this volume charts the forces that gave birth to a new incarnation of this genre"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-256) and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction: The rise of the American biographical novel / Michael Lackey -- Interviews: 1. Fixed facts and creative freedom in the biographical novel / Julia Alvarez -- 2. The truth contract in the biographical novel / Russell Banks -- 3. Big revolutionary bangs in the biographical novel / Madison Smartt Bell -- 4. Building the imaginative record with the biographical novel / M. Allen Cunningham -- 5. The biographical novel and the complexity of postmodern interiors / Michael Cunningham -- 6. Imagining a matrilineal history in the biographical novel / Anita Diamant -- 7. In the fog of the biographical novel's history / Bruce Duffy -- 8. Sensualizing and contextualizing historical 'truth' in the biographical novel / Ron Hansen -- 9. The art of claiming power in the biographical novel / Sherry Jones -- 10. Feminist naming in the biographical novel / Rebecca Kanner -- 11. Re-composing a life in the biographical novel / Kate Moses -- 12. Enhanced symbolic interiors in the biographical novel / Joyce Carol Oates -- 13. The biographical novel's practice of not-knowing / Lance Olsen -- 14. Reflections on biographical fiction / Jay Parini -- 15. The masking art of the biographical novel / Joanna Scott -- 16. Gay interiors and the biographical novel / Edmund White. |
| Local Note |
AVONNFIC |
| Subject |
Biographical fiction, American -- History and criticism.
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Historical fiction, American -- History and criticism.
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Truth in literature.
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Realism in literature.
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Novelists, American -- 21st century -- Interviews.
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Novelists, American -- 20th century -- Interviews.
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| Chronological Term |
1900 - 2099
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| Added Title |
Conversations with American biographical novelists |
| ISBN |
9781623567415 (hardback) |
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1623567416 (hardback) |
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9781623568252 (paperback) |
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1623568250 (paperback) |
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