Description
Book SynopsisFirst published in 2002. This book explores the philosophical, social, and aesthetic implications of twentieth-century America''s obsession with eliminating waste. Through interdisciplinary engagement with fiction and popular culture, William Little traces the way this obsession finds expression in powerful social forces (e.g., the drive to consume conspicuously; the Progressive-era campaign to manage scientifically; the current demand to reduce, reuse, recycle), and shows how such forces are governed by an idealism that links proper treatment of waste with the promise of salvation.
Trade Review"American culture is caught in a tension between the celebration of waste as conspicuous consumption and the abhorrence of waste, lingering from our Puritan foundation. Little suggests that American culture tries to resolve this tension through prudent 'waste management' transforming and recycling where possible, or casting out the polluted other that cannot be integrated within the culture. Yet, Little argues, there is always a troubling remainder, which he calls 'virtual waste.' His study is an examination of the production of virtual waste in selected twentieth-century American texts. Brief Mention, American Literature Sept. 2003."
Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Backfire I: Waste Expectations Chapter One: Naturalism's Shambling Figure 1. Joint Anxiety 2. Shit Fits 3. Blank Posturing 4. Sham(ble) Fiction Backfire II: Melville's (Un)flinching Faith Chapter Two: Nothing to Go On: Paul Auster's Cracked Case 1.Fast Break 2. Nothing Doing 3. Absent-Minded Hunger 4. Firing Blanks Chapter Three: (Mis)Spelling Disaster: Faith in White Noise 1. Dis-astrologic 2. Garbage Disposal 3. Void Where Prohibited 4. Trash Recollection Chapter Four: Figuring Out Mark Leyner: A Waste of Time 1. The Rush of the Scandalous 2. The Warped Writer 3. The Art of Dispatch 4. Putting Off Backfire III: Hitting on The Sopranos Bibliography Index
