American Dream, American Nightmare: Fiction Since 1960

by Kathryn Hume

Book Overview

In this celebration of contemporary American fiction, Kathryn Hume explores how estrangement from America has shaped the fiction of a literary generation, which she calls the Generation of the Lost Dream.

In breaking down the divisions among standard categories of race, religion, ethnicity, and gender, Hume identifies shared core concerns, values, and techniques among seemingly disparate and unconnected writers including T. Coraghessan Boyle,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252070577
• ISBN13: 9780252070570
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Interpreting American Dream, American Nightmare

This is a fantastic book. Very few critics have the courage or the eyeball power to do what Kathryn Hume has done--offer a genuinely thorough discussion of the landscape of American fiction since 1960--over 100 books discussed. Anyone who wants to educate her/himself on postwar fiction ought to get a copy of this wonderfully written book. No creepy academic jargon, lots of intelligent comparison. Also, Hume offers a politically progressive review but is never (pinch my nose) politically correct.