Robert Coover and the Generosity of the Page

Robert Coover and the Generosity of the Page
Author: Stephane Vanderhaeghe
Publisher: Deep Vellum Publishing
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2013-03-05
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1564788423

Robert Coover and the Generosity of the Page is an unconventional study of Robert Coover's work from his early masterpiece The Origin of the Brunists (1966) to the recent Noir (2010). Written in the second person, it offers a self-reflexive investigation into the ways in which Coover's stories often challenge the reader to resist the conventions of sense-making and even literary criticism. By portraying characters lost in surroundings they often fail to grasp, Coover's work playfully enacts a "(melo)drama of cognition" that mirrors the reader's own desire to interpret and make sense of texts in unequivocal ways. This tendency in Coover's writing is indicative of a larger refusal of the ready-made, of the once-and-for-all or the authoritative, celebrating instead, in its generosity, the widening of possibilities—thus inevitably forcing the reader-critic to acknowledge the arbitrariness and artificiality of her responses.

Make 'em Laugh!

Make 'em Laugh!
Author: Zeke Jarvis
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 570
Release: 2015-04-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

This lighthearted and eye-opening book explores the role of comedy in cultural and political critiques of American society from the past century. This unprecedented look at the history of satire in America showcases the means by which our society is informed by humor—from the way we examine the news, to how we communicate with each other, to what we seek out for entertainment. From biographical information to critical reception of material and personalities, the book features humorists from both literary and popular culture settings spanning the past 100 years. Through its 180 entries, this comprehensive volume covers a range of artists—individuals such as Joan Rivers, Hunter S. Thompson, and Chris Rock—and topics, including vaudeville, cartoons, and live performances. The content is organized by media and genre to showcase connections between writers and performers. Chapters include an alphabetical listing of humorists grouped by television and film stars, stand-up and performance comics, literary humorists, and humorists in popular print.

Going For a Beer: Selected Short Fictions

Going For a Beer: Selected Short Fictions
Author: Robert Coover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2018-02-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0393608476

“A mixtape of variations and a fugue on time from a postmodern master.… Familiar tales and conventional genres are made new, tinged with shuddering wonder and titillating humor.” —Yu-Yun Hsieh, The New York Times Book Review Robert Coover has been playing by his own rules for more than half a century, earning the 1987 Rea Award for the Short Story as “a writer who has managed, willfully and even perversely, to remain his own man while offering his generous vision and versions of America.” Here, in this selection of his best stories, you will find an invisible man tragically obsessed by an invisible woman; a cartoon man in a cartoon car who runs over a real man who is arrested by a real policeman with cartoon eyes; a stick man who reinvents the universe. While invading the dreams and nightmares of others, Coover cuts to the core of how realism works.

The Origin of the Brunists

The Origin of the Brunists
Author: Robert Coover
Publisher: Grove Press
Total Pages: 452
Release: 2000
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780802137432

Originally published in 1969, Robert Coover's first novel instantly established his mastery. A coal-mine explosion in a small mid-American town claims ninety-seven lives. The only survivor, a peculiar man subject to religious visions, is adopted as a prophet and quickly gains a following. Rapidly disseminated through the magic of media exposure, the cult spreads across America, and as its members gather on the Mount of Redemption to await the apocalypse, Robert Coover lays bare the madness of religious frenzy and the sometimes greater madness of normal citizens. The Origin of the Brunists is vintage Coover -- comic, fearless, incisive, and brilliantly executed.

Johns Wife

Johns Wife
Author: Robert Coover
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 436
Release: 1997-04-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0684830434

The bestselling author of "The Public Burning" spins a darkly magical tale about life in an ordinary small town and the woman who casts a spell on its inhabitants.

Mentors, Muses & Monsters

Mentors, Muses & Monsters
Author: Elizabeth Benedict
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2012-02-01
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 1438443501

Thirty writers look back at the the people, events, and books that launched their literary lives.

The Review of Contemporary Fiction

The Review of Contemporary Fiction
Author: Gert Jonke
Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2005-01-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781564783998

The Review of Contemporary Fiction is a tri-quarterly journal that features critical essays on fiction writers whose work resists convention and easy categorization.