Must read : rediscovering American bestsellers : from Charlotte Temple to The Da Vinci code / edited by Sarah Churchwell and Thomas Ruys Smith.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Churchwell, Sarah Bartlett, 1970- editor.

Smith, Thomas Ruys, 1979- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Best sellers--United States--History.

Best sellers.

American fiction--History and criticism.

American fiction.

Popular literature--United States--History and criticism.

Popular literature.

Books and reading--United States--History.

Books and reading.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (385 p.)

Place of Publication:

London ; New York, New York : Continuum, [2012]

Summary:

What is it about certain books that makes them bestsellers? Why do some of these books remain popular for centuries, and others fade gently into obscurity? And why is it that when scholars do turn their attention to bestsellers, they seem only to be interested in the same handful of blockbusters, when so many books that were once immensely popular remain under-examined?Addressing those and other equally pressing questions about popular literature, Must Read is the first scholarly collection to offer both a survey of the evolution of American bestsellers as well as critical readings of some of

Contents:

Title; Copyright; Contents; Chapter 1 Introduction:; Must read; A brief history of reading bestsellers in America; Rediscovering the bestseller; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 2 Missing numbers: The partial history of the bestseller; Bestsellerism, bestsellerdom, and bestseller lists; Writing the history of the bestseller; Apocalyptic histories; Colonial bestsellers; Harry Potter and the "young adult" bestseller; Paperbacks and platforms; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 3 The history of Charlotte Temple as an American bestseller; Charlotte Temple: Conservative or radical sensibility?

Charlotte Temple and the popular evangelical narrativeBibliography; Notes; Chapter 4 "Like beads strung together": E. D. E. N. Southworth and the aesthetics of popular serial fiction; Developing a serial style; Places, people, and plots; Reading serially and the implications of Southworth's serial style; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 5 Ten Nights in a Bar-Room and the visual culture of temperance; Picturing temperance; The visual texture of Ten Nights; Illustrating Arthur's Bar-Room; Bibliography; Notes

Chapter 6 "The Man Without a Country": Treason, expansionism, and the history of a "bestselling" short storyOrigins: The Burr Conspiracy and the vallandigham affair; Reframings: From Napoleon to the War of 1898; Philip Nolan and "The Change of Western Empire"; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 7 Exhilaration and enlightenment in the biblical bestseller: lew Wallace's Ben-Hur, a Tale of the Christ; Lew Wallace and the origins of Ben-Hur; Sensation and spirituality in Ben-Hur; Exhilaration and enlightenment; Bibliography; Notes

Chapter 8 "Absolutely punk": Queer economies of desire in Tarzan of the apesFrom the pulps to Tarzan, Inc; "Brother Men"; Kept men, punk endings; Acknowledgment; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 9 Ornamentalism: desire, disavowal, and displacement in E. M. hull's The Sheik; Luxury imports; Ornamentalism; Desire and disavowal; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 10 Small change? Emily Post's etiquette (1922-2012); Etiquette, self-help, and America; From Post to Posts; A new etiquette for a new century?; Changing form; The nonfiction bestseller; Conclusion; Bibliography; Notes

Chapter 11 Blockbuster feminism: Peyton Place and the uses of scandalPeyton place; Female fame; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 12 Crimes and bestsellers: Mario Puzo's path to The Godfather; Sales and unpredictability; The changing publishing industry; Puzo's hidden success; The Godfather and the marketplace; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 13 Master of sentiment: The romances of Nicholas Sparks; Return to paradise; Conversion narratives; Daughters of god; Rejecting romance; Bibliography; Notes; Chapter 14 The Kite Runner's transnational allegory: Anatomy of an Afghan-American bestseller

The clash of civilizations

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781441195135

1441195130

9781283741200

1283741202

9781441145888

1441145885

OCLC:

836400642