Public Libraries of Suffolk County, New York

The late American novel, writers on the future of books, edited by Jeff Martin & C. Max Magee

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

The late American novel

edited by Jeff Martin & C. Max Magee

writers on the future of books

The Way We Absorb Information has Changed Dramatically. Edison's phonograph has been reincarnated as the iPod. Celluloid went digital. But books, for the most part, have remained the same---until now. And while music and movies have undergone an almost Darwinian evolution, the literary world now faces a revolution, a sudden seismic change in the way we buy, produce, and, yes, read books. --Scholars, journalists, and publishers have turned their brains inside out in the effort to predict what lies ahead, but who better to comment on the future of the book than those who write them? --In the Late American Novel, Jeff Martin and C. Max Magee gather some of today's finest writers to consider the sea change that is upon them. Lauren Groff imagines an array of fantastical futures for writers, from poets with groupies to novelists as vending machines. Rivka Galchen writes about the figurative and literal death of paper. Joe Meno expounds upon the idea of a book as a place set permanently aside for the imagination, regardless of format. These and other original essays by Jonathan Lethem, Reif Larsen, Benjamin Kunkel, and many more provide a timely and much-needed commentary on this compelling cultural crossroad --"What a fun and timely book this is. I sat down to read it expecting a coroner's report and found a manifesto instead. Maybe it's not time to go back to work at Applebee's yet, after all."---John Wray, author of Lowbay --Book Jacket