The American Dream and the Popular Novel

Download or read book The American Dream and the Popular Novel written by Elizabeth Long and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.