Aggressive Fictions: Reading the Contemporary American Novel - Hardcover

"Aggressive Fictions may be the only book to take seriously the idea of difficulty in contemporary fiction and explore it at once laterally and horizontally. Making connections between very different sorts of novels, Kathryn Hume paints a vivid and necessary portrait of what's happening on the cutting edge of difficult fiction. This book is a must-read for people serious about the contemporary American novel." -- Brian Evenson, Brown University, author of The Open Curtain "Kathryn Hume is one of our most brilliant and accomplished critics, and in Aggressive Fictions she describes and defines a fascinating phenomenon. Her topic is genuinely interesting, her analyses always perspicacious. Compelling and original, this book will be warmly welcomed by scholars-and by that larger community of readers passionate about contemporary fiction." -- David Cowart, Louise Fry Scudder Professor of English, University of South Carolina, author of Trailing Clouds "In an age of book clubs and reading groups, Kathryn Hume thinks seriously and boldly about the kind of contemporary American fiction that is dark, defiant, and full of pain. She helps us to understand why we read the kind of books that do not bring us the casual rewards of easy pleasure. Aggressive Fictions is a vital book." -- Mikita Brottman, Maryland Institute College of Art, author of The Solitary Vice "In Aggressive Fictions, Kathryn Hume reveals how an assortment of contemporary novels written over the last forty years or so constitute a literature of attack upon readers. These works challenge the reader's morality or her sense of the good, true, and beautiful; they cause a strong, often negative bodily, emotional, or intellectual response; they rock our world with disgusting content or challenging narrative strategies. Hume 'brings out' these works and offers incisive discussions of how they might be read in a productive manner." -- Patrick O'Donnell, Michigan State University author of The American Novel Now "Using examples from more than forty works, Hume constructs a plausible discussion for what she terms average readers who may find some aspects of contemporary literature difficult to enjoy: she writes that 'aggressive fiction tramples reader sensibilities, offends and upsets willfully and deliberately.' The result is a brilliant view of important shifts in literature. Hume creates an exhilarating treatment for those interested in understanding the shifts in authorial motivation and content. She argues that subverting traditional plots and patterns, along with character development, creates a dissonance worthy of extended examination. Highly recommended." * Choice * "The virtue of Hume's new book is that it covers a wide range of writers and integrates several not commonly associated... Fictionists who have been almost forgotten by scholars, such as Robert Coover, are given new life by comparisons with current favorites such as Chuck Palahniuk and Katherine Dunn." -- Jerome Klinkowitz * American Literary Scholarship * "[This]book deserves credit for both its transparent structure and its meticulous analysis and classification of the various narratological functions and effects." -- Birgit Dawes * Amerikastudien / American Studies *

A frequent complaint against contemporary American fiction is that too often it puts off readers in ways they find difficult to fathom. Books such as Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, and Don DeLillo's Underworld seem determined to upset, disgust, or annoy their readers-or to disorient them by shunning traditional plot patterns and character development. Kathryn Hume calls such works "aggressive fiction." Why would authors risk alienating their readers-and why should readers persevere? Looking beyond the theory-based justifications that critics often provide for such fiction, Hume offers a commonsense guide for the average reader who wants to better understand and appreciate books that might otherwise seem difficult to enjoy. In her reliable and sympathetic guide, Hume considers roughly forty works of recent American fiction, including books by William Burroughs, Kathy Acker, Chuck Palahniuk, and Cormac McCarthy. Hume gathers "attacks" on the reader into categories based on narrative structure and content. Writers of some aggressive fictions may wish to frustrate easy interpretation or criticism. Others may try to induce certain responses in readers. Extreme content deployed as a tactic for distancing and alienating can actually produce a contradictory effect: for readers who learn to relax and go with the flow, the result may well be exhilaration rather than revulsion.