Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-230) and index.
Contents
Introduction : the end of history -- 1. After enlightenment : Mason & Dixon and the ampersand -- 2. After the fall : Roth and the 1960s -- 3. After Identity : Morrison and genealogy -- 4. How to tell a true Cold War story : O'Brien, Didion, and closure -- 5. History is what heals : 9/11 and narrative in eugenides and Lethem -- Afterword : DeLillo and the anticipation of retrospection.
Summary
Samuel Cohen asserts the literary and historical importance of the period between the fall of the Berlin wall and that of the Twin Towers in New York. He examines six 1990s novels and two post-9/11 novels that explore the impact of the end of the Cold War. Cohen emphasizes how these works reconnect the past to a present that is ironically keen on denying that connection. --from publisher description
