{"product_id":"thomas-pynchon-and-the-dark-david-cowart-9780820340623","title":"Thomas Pynchon and the Dark Passages of History","description":"\u003cp\u003eThomas Pynchon helped pioneer the postmodern aesthetic. His formidable body of work challenges readers to think and perceive in ways that anticipate--with humor, insight, and cogency--much that has emerged in the field of literary theory over the past few decades. For David Cowart, Pynchon's most profound teachings are about history--history as myth, as rhetorical construct, as false consciousness, as prologue, as mirror, and as seedbed of national and literary identities. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn one encyclopedic novel after another, Pynchon has reconceptualized historical periods that he sees as culturally definitive. Examining Pynchon's entire body of work, Cowart offers an engaging, metahistorical reading of V.; an exhaustive analysis of the influence of German culture in Pynchon's early work, with particular emphasis on \u003ci\u003eGravity's Rainbow\u003c\/i\u003e; and a critical spectroscopy of those dark stars, \u003ci\u003eMason \u0026amp; Dixon\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAgainst the Day\u003c\/i\u003e. He defends the California fictions \u003ci\u003eThe Crying of Lot 49\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVineland\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e Inherent Vice\u003c\/i\u003e as\u003ci\u003e roman fleuve\u003c\/i\u003e chronicling the decade in which the American tapestry began to unravel. Cowart ends his study by considering Pynchon's place in literary history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCowart argues that Pynchon has always understood the facticity of historical narrative and the historicity of storytelling--not to mention the relations of both story and history to myth. \u003ci\u003eThomas Pynchon and the Dark Passages of History\u003c\/i\u003e offers a deft analysis of the problems of history as engaged by our greatest living novelist and argues for the continuity of Pynchon's historical vision.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e David Cowart\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0820340626\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780820340623\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Georgia Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/15\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.19lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2012","brand":"David Cowart","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48013806108927,"sku":"9780820340623","price":126.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_92fef9ab-8262-4f85-808a-1c4b2912c900.jpg?v=1767744887","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/thomas-pynchon-and-the-dark-david-cowart-9780820340623","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}