John Updike

John Updike

Author: Robert M. Luscher

Publisher: Twayne Publishers

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13:

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Prolific in a variety of genres, John Updike is one of North America's premier men of letters, regularly producing novels, poetry, short fiction, and volumes of assorted prose. Without question, he is one of the most widely read contemporary American authors. Updike's elegant fiction on the tensions and tragedies of contemporary middle-class life have earned him numerous awards, including the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Rabbit is Rich. Updike is also a serious craftsman of the short story, with 10 collections and 200 short stories to his credit. His stature as a writer of short fiction warrants close examination, particularly in light of the author's active contribution to the genre's current revitalization through formal experimentation and stylistic excellence. In John Updike: A Study of the Short Fiction, Robert M. Luscher focuses exclusively on Updike's short fiction. In this comprehensive treatment of all of Updike's short fiction, Luscher explores each of Updike's story collections separately and in approximate chronological order. Luscher adopts this traditional approach, because each collection has a dominant thematic focus and examines characters in a particular phase of development. Updike's short fiction captures the changing historical background, the shifting social mores, and the personal responses to the altered socio-cultural circumstances that have heightened spiritual uncertainty, social unrest, sexual freedom, and domestic tension. Each successive collection shows Updike experimenting with different techniques as his focus on American domestic life adjusts to accommodate new emphases. Luscher reveals how the particular form and techniques Updike employs areadapted to the materials. As Updike's emphasis on different phases of experience shifts, so does the manner in which he handles his subjects. Luscher's examination is amplified by Updike's own commentary on the art of fiction. He foregrounds Updike's remarks on writing and attitudes about his material, rather than the autobiographical content of his stories. Robert M. Luscher's well organized presentation, cogent use of existing scholarship, and persuasive insights are sure to make this a ground-breaking study of John Updike's short fiction.


Book Synopsis John Updike by : Robert M. Luscher

Download or read book John Updike written by Robert M. Luscher and published by Twayne Publishers. This book was released on 1993 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prolific in a variety of genres, John Updike is one of North America's premier men of letters, regularly producing novels, poetry, short fiction, and volumes of assorted prose. Without question, he is one of the most widely read contemporary American authors. Updike's elegant fiction on the tensions and tragedies of contemporary middle-class life have earned him numerous awards, including the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Rabbit is Rich. Updike is also a serious craftsman of the short story, with 10 collections and 200 short stories to his credit. His stature as a writer of short fiction warrants close examination, particularly in light of the author's active contribution to the genre's current revitalization through formal experimentation and stylistic excellence. In John Updike: A Study of the Short Fiction, Robert M. Luscher focuses exclusively on Updike's short fiction. In this comprehensive treatment of all of Updike's short fiction, Luscher explores each of Updike's story collections separately and in approximate chronological order. Luscher adopts this traditional approach, because each collection has a dominant thematic focus and examines characters in a particular phase of development. Updike's short fiction captures the changing historical background, the shifting social mores, and the personal responses to the altered socio-cultural circumstances that have heightened spiritual uncertainty, social unrest, sexual freedom, and domestic tension. Each successive collection shows Updike experimenting with different techniques as his focus on American domestic life adjusts to accommodate new emphases. Luscher reveals how the particular form and techniques Updike employs areadapted to the materials. As Updike's emphasis on different phases of experience shifts, so does the manner in which he handles his subjects. Luscher's examination is amplified by Updike's own commentary on the art of fiction. He foregrounds Updike's remarks on writing and attitudes about his material, rather than the autobiographical content of his stories. Robert M. Luscher's well organized presentation, cogent use of existing scholarship, and persuasive insights are sure to make this a ground-breaking study of John Updike's short fiction.

Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates

Author: Greg Johnson

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13:

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"Joyce Carol Oates is often called America's most prolific living writer, but it is perhaps her versatility that is most astounding. Just as she is a revered novelist, playwright, poet, and critic, the short stories gathered in her 21 published collections - from By the North Gate (1963) to Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque (1994) - vary in theme and style, although all evoke the bedrock natural and social reality that has consistently informed her fiction." "In this comprehensive survey of Oates's stories, Greg Johnson selects eight of her collections that he considers most representative of her work and among her most successful books. He analyzes stories in which Oates experiments with form, genre, allusion, and Gothicism and presents postmodern allegories of American life. Separate chapters are devoted to Oates's early Eden County stories in By the North Gate and Upon the Sweeping Flood (1966), her stories focused on female experience in The Wheel of Love (1970) and The Goddess and Other Women (1974), her experimentation with fictional form and genre in Marriages and Infidelities (1972) and Night-Side (1977), and her recent work in Raven's Wing (1986) and Heat (1991), dealing with the psychology and culture of contemporary life." "The volume's second part presents a 1981 interview with Oates (conducted by Sanford Pinsker), as well as a copious selection of Oates's writing about her stories and the form generally - a discussion of her early stories; separate appraisals of "Funland," "Heat," "The Swimmers," and "Why Don't You Come Live with Me It's Time"; her response to the question "Is there a female voice?"; and her comments on the translation of short story into film. Part 3 consists of four critical essays - by scholars Marilyn C. Wesley, Daniel L. Zins, Robert McPhillips, and Gretchen Schulz - commissioned specifically for this volume, as well as previously published essays by William Abrahams, Elaine Showalter, and Elizabeth Pochoda." "Johnson's exploration of the stories he considers key to an understanding of Oates's mastery of the genre is essential reading for students of Oates's work and of the contemporary American short story."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved


Book Synopsis Joyce Carol Oates by : Greg Johnson

Download or read book Joyce Carol Oates written by Greg Johnson and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Joyce Carol Oates is often called America's most prolific living writer, but it is perhaps her versatility that is most astounding. Just as she is a revered novelist, playwright, poet, and critic, the short stories gathered in her 21 published collections - from By the North Gate (1963) to Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque (1994) - vary in theme and style, although all evoke the bedrock natural and social reality that has consistently informed her fiction." "In this comprehensive survey of Oates's stories, Greg Johnson selects eight of her collections that he considers most representative of her work and among her most successful books. He analyzes stories in which Oates experiments with form, genre, allusion, and Gothicism and presents postmodern allegories of American life. Separate chapters are devoted to Oates's early Eden County stories in By the North Gate and Upon the Sweeping Flood (1966), her stories focused on female experience in The Wheel of Love (1970) and The Goddess and Other Women (1974), her experimentation with fictional form and genre in Marriages and Infidelities (1972) and Night-Side (1977), and her recent work in Raven's Wing (1986) and Heat (1991), dealing with the psychology and culture of contemporary life." "The volume's second part presents a 1981 interview with Oates (conducted by Sanford Pinsker), as well as a copious selection of Oates's writing about her stories and the form generally - a discussion of her early stories; separate appraisals of "Funland," "Heat," "The Swimmers," and "Why Don't You Come Live with Me It's Time"; her response to the question "Is there a female voice?"; and her comments on the translation of short story into film. Part 3 consists of four critical essays - by scholars Marilyn C. Wesley, Daniel L. Zins, Robert McPhillips, and Gretchen Schulz - commissioned specifically for this volume, as well as previously published essays by William Abrahams, Elaine Showalter, and Elizabeth Pochoda." "Johnson's exploration of the stories he considers key to an understanding of Oates's mastery of the genre is essential reading for students of Oates's work and of the contemporary American short story."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Mark Twain and Human Nature

Mark Twain and Human Nature

Author: Tom Quirk

Publisher: University of Missouri

Published: 2011-11-07

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780826219664

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Mark Twain once claimed that he could read human character as well as he could read the Mississippi River, and he studied his fellow humans with the same devoted attention. In both his fiction and his nonfiction, he was disposed to dramatize how the human creature acts in a given environment—and to understand why. Now one of America’s preeminent Twain scholars takes a closer look at this icon’s abiding interest in his fellow creatures. In seeking to account for how Twain might have reasonably believed the things he said he believed, Tom Quirk has interwoven the author’s inner life with his writings to produce a meditation on how Twain’s understanding of human nature evolved and deepened, and to show that this was one of the central preoccupations of his life. Quirk charts the ways in which this humorist and occasional philosopher contemplated the subject of human nature from early adulthood until the end of his life, revealing how his outlook changed over the years. His travels, his readings in history and science, his political and social commitments, and his own pragmatic testing of human nature in his writing contributed to Twain’s mature view of his kind. Quirk establishes the social and scientific contexts that clarify Twain’s thinking, and he considers not only Twain’s stated intentions about his purposes in his published works but also his ad hoc remarks about the human condition. Viewing both major and minor works through the lens of Twain’s shifting attitude, Quirk provides refreshing new perspectives on the master’s oeuvre. He offers a detailed look at the travel writings, including The Innocents Abroad and Following the Equator, and the novels, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Pudd’nhead Wilson, as well as an important review of works from Twain’s last decade, including fantasies centering on man’s insignificance in Creation, works preoccupied with isolation—notably No. 44,The Mysterious Stranger and “Eve’s Diary”—and polemical writings such as What Is Man? Comprising the well-seasoned reflections of a mature scholar, this persuasive and eminently readable study comes to terms with the life-shaping ideas and attitudes of one of America’s best-loved writers. Mark Twain and Human Nature offers readers a better understanding of Twain’s intellect as it enriches our understanding of his craft and his ineluctable humor.


Book Synopsis Mark Twain and Human Nature by : Tom Quirk

Download or read book Mark Twain and Human Nature written by Tom Quirk and published by University of Missouri. This book was released on 2011-11-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mark Twain once claimed that he could read human character as well as he could read the Mississippi River, and he studied his fellow humans with the same devoted attention. In both his fiction and his nonfiction, he was disposed to dramatize how the human creature acts in a given environment—and to understand why. Now one of America’s preeminent Twain scholars takes a closer look at this icon’s abiding interest in his fellow creatures. In seeking to account for how Twain might have reasonably believed the things he said he believed, Tom Quirk has interwoven the author’s inner life with his writings to produce a meditation on how Twain’s understanding of human nature evolved and deepened, and to show that this was one of the central preoccupations of his life. Quirk charts the ways in which this humorist and occasional philosopher contemplated the subject of human nature from early adulthood until the end of his life, revealing how his outlook changed over the years. His travels, his readings in history and science, his political and social commitments, and his own pragmatic testing of human nature in his writing contributed to Twain’s mature view of his kind. Quirk establishes the social and scientific contexts that clarify Twain’s thinking, and he considers not only Twain’s stated intentions about his purposes in his published works but also his ad hoc remarks about the human condition. Viewing both major and minor works through the lens of Twain’s shifting attitude, Quirk provides refreshing new perspectives on the master’s oeuvre. He offers a detailed look at the travel writings, including The Innocents Abroad and Following the Equator, and the novels, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Pudd’nhead Wilson, as well as an important review of works from Twain’s last decade, including fantasies centering on man’s insignificance in Creation, works preoccupied with isolation—notably No. 44,The Mysterious Stranger and “Eve’s Diary”—and polemical writings such as What Is Man? Comprising the well-seasoned reflections of a mature scholar, this persuasive and eminently readable study comes to terms with the life-shaping ideas and attitudes of one of America’s best-loved writers. Mark Twain and Human Nature offers readers a better understanding of Twain’s intellect as it enriches our understanding of his craft and his ineluctable humor.

Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver

Author: Ewing Campbell

Publisher: Macmillan Reference USA

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13:

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"Perhaps the most significant and influential figure in this century's wave of American realism, Raymond Carver (1938-1988) is credited not only with reviving the short story as an artistically legitimate form, but also with perfecting minimalist fiction. His 1981 collection, What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, remains the standard against which minimalist literature is measured, and his numerous prize-winning and frequently anthologized stories have established him as the extender of a modernist tradition stretching from Chekhov through Joyce and Hemingway. In his later collections, such as Cathedral (1983) and Where I'm Calling From (1988), Carver surpasses even his own great achievement, setting a bold new path for his short fiction and intensifying the scholarly attention he'd first inspired with "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" (anthologized in Best American Short Stories of 1967)." "Moving chronologically through Carver's complete short fiction canon and examining key stories in depth, Ewing Campbell traces the author's development through and beyond literary minimalism, into the tradition of tragic allegory. He explores Carvers persistent use of myth and archetype; motifs of the grotesque; religious iconography; and oppressed, spiritually paralyzed characters. From the earliest stories through the latest, Campbell illuminates Carvers constant fascination with the way individuals connect or fail to connect with one another."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved


Book Synopsis Raymond Carver by : Ewing Campbell

Download or read book Raymond Carver written by Ewing Campbell and published by Macmillan Reference USA. This book was released on 1992 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Perhaps the most significant and influential figure in this century's wave of American realism, Raymond Carver (1938-1988) is credited not only with reviving the short story as an artistically legitimate form, but also with perfecting minimalist fiction. His 1981 collection, What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, remains the standard against which minimalist literature is measured, and his numerous prize-winning and frequently anthologized stories have established him as the extender of a modernist tradition stretching from Chekhov through Joyce and Hemingway. In his later collections, such as Cathedral (1983) and Where I'm Calling From (1988), Carver surpasses even his own great achievement, setting a bold new path for his short fiction and intensifying the scholarly attention he'd first inspired with "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" (anthologized in Best American Short Stories of 1967)." "Moving chronologically through Carver's complete short fiction canon and examining key stories in depth, Ewing Campbell traces the author's development through and beyond literary minimalism, into the tradition of tragic allegory. He explores Carvers persistent use of myth and archetype; motifs of the grotesque; religious iconography; and oppressed, spiritually paralyzed characters. From the earliest stories through the latest, Campbell illuminates Carvers constant fascination with the way individuals connect or fail to connect with one another."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Truman Capote

Truman Capote

Author: Helen S. Garson

Publisher: Frederick Ungar

Published: 1980

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

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A brief biographical profile accompanies a detailed analysis of Capote's novels and short stories, and an assessment of his influence on modern literature.


Book Synopsis Truman Capote by : Helen S. Garson

Download or read book Truman Capote written by Helen S. Garson and published by Frederick Ungar. This book was released on 1980 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brief biographical profile accompanies a detailed analysis of Capote's novels and short stories, and an assessment of his influence on modern literature.

Talma Gordon

Talma Gordon

Author: Pauline E. Hopkins

Publisher: Graphic Arts Books

Published: 2021-04-23

Total Pages: 18

ISBN-13: 1513298496

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Talma Gordon (1900) is a short story by Pauline E. Hopkins. Recognized as the first African American mystery story, Talma Gordon was originally published in the October 1900 edition of The Colored American Magazine, America’s first monthly periodical covering African American arts and culture. Combining themes of racial identity and passing with a locked room mystery plot, Hopkins weaves a masterful tale of conspiracy, suspicion, and murder. “When the trial was called Jeannette sat beside Talma in the prisoner’s dock; both were arrayed in deepest mourning, Talma was pale and careworn, but seemed uplifted, spiritualized, as it were. [...] She had changed much too: hollow cheeks, tottering steps, eyes blazing with fever, all suggestive of rapid and premature decay.” When Puritan descendant Jonathan Gordon is discovered murdered under suspicious circumstances, the ensuing trial implicates his own daughter Talma. Despite being declared innocent, the townsfolk are determined to believe that Talma conspired to have her father killed after he discovered her mixed racial heritage. Freed from the prospect of imprisonment, Talma is left with only her sister’s protection against the anger and violence of her neighbors. With this thrilling tale of murder and racial tension, Hopkins proves herself as a true pioneer of American literature, a woman whose talent and principles afforded her the vision necessary for illuminating the injustices of life in a nation founded on slavery and genocide. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Pauline E. Hopkins’ Talma Gordon is a classic work of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.


Book Synopsis Talma Gordon by : Pauline E. Hopkins

Download or read book Talma Gordon written by Pauline E. Hopkins and published by Graphic Arts Books. This book was released on 2021-04-23 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Talma Gordon (1900) is a short story by Pauline E. Hopkins. Recognized as the first African American mystery story, Talma Gordon was originally published in the October 1900 edition of The Colored American Magazine, America’s first monthly periodical covering African American arts and culture. Combining themes of racial identity and passing with a locked room mystery plot, Hopkins weaves a masterful tale of conspiracy, suspicion, and murder. “When the trial was called Jeannette sat beside Talma in the prisoner’s dock; both were arrayed in deepest mourning, Talma was pale and careworn, but seemed uplifted, spiritualized, as it were. [...] She had changed much too: hollow cheeks, tottering steps, eyes blazing with fever, all suggestive of rapid and premature decay.” When Puritan descendant Jonathan Gordon is discovered murdered under suspicious circumstances, the ensuing trial implicates his own daughter Talma. Despite being declared innocent, the townsfolk are determined to believe that Talma conspired to have her father killed after he discovered her mixed racial heritage. Freed from the prospect of imprisonment, Talma is left with only her sister’s protection against the anger and violence of her neighbors. With this thrilling tale of murder and racial tension, Hopkins proves herself as a true pioneer of American literature, a woman whose talent and principles afforded her the vision necessary for illuminating the injustices of life in a nation founded on slavery and genocide. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Pauline E. Hopkins’ Talma Gordon is a classic work of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

Author: Naomi Lindstrom

Publisher: Twayne Pub

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 9780805783278

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Examines both periods of the Argentine writer's works--his early baroque style with elaborate plot construction, and his later more traditional narratives


Book Synopsis Jorge Luis Borges by : Naomi Lindstrom

Download or read book Jorge Luis Borges written by Naomi Lindstrom and published by Twayne Pub. This book was released on 1990 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines both periods of the Argentine writer's works--his early baroque style with elaborate plot construction, and his later more traditional narratives

Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane

Author: Chester L. Wolford

Publisher:

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

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This is a full-length study of Crane's short stories, tracing their formal development and relating Crane's work to the aesthetic principles of American modernism. As mirrors of his time, Crane's stories reflected the major forces that transformed American life between 1850 and 1900: the Civil War, industrialism and the rise of cities and slums, and the disappearance of the American frontier. Consequently, the predominant theme of much of Crane's work is the conflict between chaos and order, emphasizing what Crane saw as man's fragmented perception of reality. In his search for meaning in human existence, Crane turned to ritual in his late fiction. ISBN 0-8057-8315-6: $18.95.


Book Synopsis Stephen Crane by : Chester L. Wolford

Download or read book Stephen Crane written by Chester L. Wolford and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a full-length study of Crane's short stories, tracing their formal development and relating Crane's work to the aesthetic principles of American modernism. As mirrors of his time, Crane's stories reflected the major forces that transformed American life between 1850 and 1900: the Civil War, industrialism and the rise of cities and slums, and the disappearance of the American frontier. Consequently, the predominant theme of much of Crane's work is the conflict between chaos and order, emphasizing what Crane saw as man's fragmented perception of reality. In his search for meaning in human existence, Crane turned to ritual in his late fiction. ISBN 0-8057-8315-6: $18.95.

Fiction as Research Practice

Fiction as Research Practice

Author: Patricia Leavy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-06-16

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1315428474

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The turn to fiction as a social research practice is a natural extension of what many researchers and writers have long been doing. Patricia Leavy, a widely published qualitative researcher and a novelist, explores the overlaps and intersections between these two ways of understanding and describing human experience. She demonstrates the validity of literary experimentation to the qualitative researcher and how to incorporate these practices into research projects. Five short stories and excerpts from novellas and novels show these methods in action. This book is an essential methodological introduction for those interested in studying or practicing arts-based research.


Book Synopsis Fiction as Research Practice by : Patricia Leavy

Download or read book Fiction as Research Practice written by Patricia Leavy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The turn to fiction as a social research practice is a natural extension of what many researchers and writers have long been doing. Patricia Leavy, a widely published qualitative researcher and a novelist, explores the overlaps and intersections between these two ways of understanding and describing human experience. She demonstrates the validity of literary experimentation to the qualitative researcher and how to incorporate these practices into research projects. Five short stories and excerpts from novellas and novels show these methods in action. This book is an essential methodological introduction for those interested in studying or practicing arts-based research.

Studies in Short Fiction

Studies in Short Fiction

Author: Douglas A. Hughes

Publisher:

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 612

ISBN-13: 9780030841880

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Book Synopsis Studies in Short Fiction by : Douglas A. Hughes

Download or read book Studies in Short Fiction written by Douglas A. Hughes and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: