LITERARY AFTERSHOCKS: American Writers, Readers, and the Bomb

Stone, Albert E.

ISBN 10: 0805788530 / ISBN 13: 9780805788532

Published by Twayne Publishers, New York, 1994

About this Item

xviii + 204pp. Notes and References, Bibliography, Chronology, Index. Literature and Society series. "[T]he literary response to nuclear realities from 1945 to the present." Book has light remainder stripe to bottom edges. Dust jacket slightly rubbed.

Seller Inventory # 01434

Bibliographic Details

• Title: LITERARY AFTERSHOCKS: American Writers, Readers, and the Bomb
• Publisher: Twayne Publishers, New York
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805788530
• ISBN 13: 9780805788532
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: VERY GOOD +
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literary Criticism - Theory
  • US History

About this title

Synopsis

As Albert E. Stone points out in his preface to Literary Aftershocks, the 1992 issue of Nuclear Texts and Contexts carried a headline proclaiming "Farewell to the First Atomic Age." Literary Aftershocks, Stone asserts, "takes seriously that adjective first and invites readers of history and literature to do the same."
And indeed readers of this volume will do so, for Stone has compiled a sweeping, vitally important survey of the literary response to nuclear realities from 1945 to the present. Represented here are a diversity of writers, predominantly American, speaking with urgency and passion to a host of concerns: radioactivity, nuclear warfare, disarmament, the future of the planet, respect for life, and more. The breadth of selections is striking, ranging from such well-known works as Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, Hersey's Hiroshima, Ginsberg's "Plutonian Ode," and Schell's Fate of the Earth to writings and authors heretofore given scant attention. Together, these voices emit a clarion call for life and not death, for peace and not war.
Writing in crisp, pointed, and always accessible language, Stone approaches his material partly chronologically and partly by genre. Here readers will find thoughtful interpretations and clarifications accompanying excerpts from essays and stories, science fiction and poetry, novels and nonfiction. Children's literature is afforded special emphasis, as is the cultural criticism of the 1980s. Lending overall perspective to the material is a Chronology of Nuclear History and Literature.
More than a narrow work of literary history, Literary Aftershocks is cultural history at its finest, permeated by a strong - and strongly documented - humanist slant. It argues that imaginative writing by contemporary Americans reflects, refracts, and interprets the historical realities of the nuclear age; it demonstrates that description, diagnosis, and prophecy are the common concerns of these writers. Simultaneously disturbing, sobering, and thought-provoking, Literary Aftershocks is above all a book of hope. In the aftermath of the breakup of the Soviet Union, when complacency about nuclear threats is all too tempting, this volume challenges readers to think, feel, and act. As such, it offers a compelling resource not only for students and teachers but for general readers as well.

About the Author

Albert E. Stone, professor emeritus of American Studies and English at the University of Iowa.