Truthful fictions : conversations with American biographical novelists / edited by Michael Lackey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lackey, Michael, interviewer.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biographical fiction, American--History and criticism.

Biographical fiction, American.

Historical fiction, American--History and criticism.

Historical fiction, American.

Novelists, American--20th century--Interviews.

Novelists, American.

Novelists, American--21st century--Interviews.

Realism in literature.

Truth in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (275 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Conversations with American biographical novelist

Place of Publication:

New York ; London : Bloomsbury, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"In this new collection of interviews, some of America's most prominent novelists identify the key intellectual developments that led to the rise of the contemporary biographical novel, discuss the kind of historical 'truth' this novel communicates, indicate why this narrative form is superior to the traditional historical novel, and reflect on the ideas and characters central to their individual works. These interviews do more than just define an innovative genre of contemporary fiction. They provide a precise way of understanding the complicated relationship and pregnant tensions between contextualized thinking and historical representation, interdisciplinary studies and 'truth' production, and fictional reality and factual constructions. By focusing on classical and contemporary debates regarding the nature of the historical novel, this volume charts the forces that gave birth to a new incarnation of this genre"--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note:

Contents: Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Rise of the American Biographical Novel, Michael Lackey

Interviews: 1. Julia Alvarez: Fixed Facts and Creative Freedom in the Biographical Novel

2. Russell Banks: The Truth Contract in the Biographical Novel

3. Madison Smartt Bell: Big Revolutionary Bangs in the Biographical Novel

4. M. Allen Cunningham: Building the Imaginative Record with the Biographical Novel

5. Michael Cunningham: The Biographical Novel and the Complexity of Postmodern Interiors

6. Anita Diamant: Imagining a Matrilineal History in the Biographical Novel

7. Bruce Duffy: In the Fog of the Biographical Novel's History

8. Ron Hansen: Sensualizing and Contextualizing Historical 'Truth' in the Biographical Novel

9. Sherry Jones: The Art of Claiming Power in the Biographical Novel

10. Rebecca Kanner: Feminist Naming in the Biographical Novel

11. Kate Moses: Re-Composing a Life in the Biographical Novel

12. Joyce Carol Oates: Enhanced Symbolic Interiors in the Biographical Novel

13. Lance Olsen: The Biographical Novel's Practice of Not-Knowing

14. Jay Parini: Reflections on Biographical Fiction

15. Joanna Scott: The Masking Art of the Biographical Novel

16. Edmund White: Gay Interiors and the Biographical Novel

Contributors

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-256) and index.

ISBN:

9781628926958

1628926953

9781623561826

1623561825

OCLC:

1162662316