The American Dream and the Popular Novel

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Routledge, 23.10.2017 - 256 Seiten

This title, originally published in 1985, examines conceptions of success and the good life expressed in bestselling novels – ranging from historical sagas and spy thrillers to more serious works by Updike, Bellows, Steinbeck and Mailer – published from 1945 to 1975. Using these popular books as cultural evidence, Elizabeth Long argues that the meaning of the American dream has changed dramatically, but in a more complex fashion than has been recognised by that country’s most prominent social critics. Her study presents a challenge to prevailing social-scientific views of contemporary American culture, and represents, both in theory and method, an important contribution to the study of culture and social criticism.

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Inhalt

Acknowledgments
the social context of thematic content
from entrepreneurial adventure
the varieties of selffulfillment
the failure of success
The social critics
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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