Hicks, Tribes and Dirty Realists: American Fiction After Postmodernism - Hardcover

Robert Rebein

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813121760 ISBN 13: 9780813121765

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky, 2001

Synopsis

Eschewing allegiance to particular literary movements, Robert Rebein offers a shrewd topographical map of contemporary American fiction. Rebein argues that much literary fiction of the 1980s and 90s represents a triumphant, if tortured, return to questions about place and the individual that inspired the works of Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Faulkner, and other giants of American literature. Concentrating on the realist bent and regional orientation in contemporary fiction, he discusses in detail the various names by which this fiction has been described, including literary post-modemism, minimalism, Hick Chic, Dirty Realism, ecofeminism, and more. Rebein's clearly written, nuanced inter-pretations of works by Raymond Carver, Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo, Louise Erdrich, Dorothy Allison, Barbara Kingsolver, E. Annie Proulx, Chris Offutt, and others will appeal to a wide range of readers.

About this title

Review

"A book worth reading." -- American Book Review

"Looks at some of the most important works of the end of the 20th century in light of what they do, rather than how they fit into any particular movement." -- "Book News"

"Rebein singles out realism and regionalism as the exciting and enduring strains in US literature, a focus that is keeping the American tradition alive." -- "Choice"

"Rebein claims that after postmodern fiction, American writing (since 1980) has returned to the fundamentals of realism, but with a broader range of perspective and techniques. Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists delivers everything you might think the title promises." -- "Journal of Appalachian Studies"

"I urge anyone still puzzled by what has been happening in recent American literature to read this book. Rebein writes clearly and convincingly of recent books which moved him deeply." -- "Leslie Fiedler, SUNY-Buffalo"

"A shrewd topographical map of contemporary American fiction." -- "Mark Shechner, SUNY-Buffalo"

"This is the best guide I know to contemporary American fiction -- thorough, incisive, coherent, readable." -- "Wade Hall"

"A book worth reading." -- "American Book Review"

"Looks at some of the most important works of the end of the 20th century in light of what they do, rather than how they fit into any particular movement." -- Book News

"Rebein singles out realism and regionalism as the exciting and enduring strains in US literature, a focus that is keeping the American tradition alive." -- Choice

About the Author

Robert Rebein is assistant professor of English and creative writing at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0813121760
• ISBN 13: 9780813121765
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 207