
- 353 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Following The Broken Estate, The Irresponsible Self, and How Fiction Worksâbooks that established James Wood as the leading critic of his generationâ The Fun Stuff confirms Wood's preeminence, not only as a discerning judge but also as an appreciator of the contemporary novel. In twenty-three passionate, sparkling dispatchesâthat range over such crucial writers as Thomas Hardy, Leon Tolstoy, Edmund Wilson, and Mikhail LermontovâWood offers a panoramic look at the modern novel. He effortlessly connects his encyclopedic, passionate understanding of the literary canon with an equally in-depth analysis of the most important authors writing today, including Cormac McCarthy, Lydia Davis, Aleksandar Hemon, and Michel Houellebecq. Included in The Fun Stuff are the title essay on Keith Moon and the lost joys of drummingâwhich was a finalist for last year's National Magazine Awardsâas well as Wood's essay on George Orwell, which Christopher Hitchens selected for the Best American Essays 2010. The Fun Stuff is indispensable reading for anyone who cares about contemporary literature.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Contents
- The Fun Stuff: Homage to Keith Moon
- W. G. Sebaldâs Austerlitz
- Kazuo Ishiguroâs Never Let Me Go
- Thinking: Norman Rush
- Cormac McCarthyâs The Road
- Edmund Wilson
- Aleksandar Hemon
- Beyond a Boundary: Netherland as Postcolonial Novel
- Wounder and Wounded
- Robert Alter and the King James Bible
- Tolstoyâs War and Peace
- Marilynne Robinson
- Lydia Davis
- Containment: Trauma and Manipulation in Ian McEwan
- Richard Yates
- George Orwellâs Very English Revolution
- âUnfathomable!â (Mikhail Lermontov)
- Thomas Hardy
- Geoff Dyer
- Paul Austerâs Shallowness
- âReality Examined to the Point of Madnessâ: LĂĄszlĂł Krasznahorkai
- Ismail Kadare
- English Muddle: Alan Hollinghurst
- Lifeâs White Machine: Ben Lerner
- Packing My Father-in-Lawâs Library
- Note
- Acknowledgments
- Also by James Wood
- Copyright