Novel History: Historians and Novelists Confront America's Past and Each Other

by Mark C. Carnes (Editor)

139 Members 1 Review ½ (3.30)

On This Page

Quick Facts

Description

Historical fiction is a contradiction in terms. History is what happened; fiction, what did not. Yet great novelists have often disregarded this logical difficulty, taking up the tools of the historian to explore the shadowy recesses of the past. Their labors have brought forth many literary treasures. But how accurately do these masterpieces of the imagination reflect the past? In Novel History, twenty accomplished historians consider this question in relation to some of our most important show more historical novels. Their essays are followed in most instances by a response from the novelist. These dialogues illuminate one of the most fascinating and perplexing issues of our time -- the relation between the "real" past and our finest imaginative renderings of it. Novel History includes essays by distinguished historians such as John Demos, Michael Kammen, Joan D. Hedrick, John Lukacs, Eugene D. Genovese, Richard White, and Tom Wicker, and responses from notable novelists, including Gore Vidal, John Updike, Russell Banks, Don DeLillo, Larry McMurtry, Jane Smiley, Madison Smartt Bell, William Styron, T. Coraghessan Boyle, William Kennedy, Charles Frazier, Thomas Fleming, and Tim O'Brien. Novel History is both a uniquely compelling perspective and superb collection of literary history. show less

Tags

More Tags

Recommendations

Complete Recommendations

Member Reviews

Members

Recently Added By
All Members

Author Information

Picture of author.
Mark C. Carnes
Editor
29+ Works 1,342 Members
Mark C. Carnes is Ann Whitney Olin Professor of History at Barnard College

All Editions

Banks, Russell (Contributor)
Bell, Madison Smartt (Contributor)
Boyer, Paul S. (Contributor)
Boyle, T. Coraghessan (Contributor)
Courtwright, David T. (Contributor)
DeLillo, Don (Contributor)
Demos, John (Contributor)
Dillard, Annie (Contributor)
Faragher, John Mack (Contributor)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Contributor)
Fleming, Thomas J. (Contributor)
Franklin, H. Bruce (Contributor)
Frazier, Charles (Contributor)
Freeman, Joanne B. (Contributor)
Genovese, Eugene D. (Contributor)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel (Contributor)
Hedrick, Joan D. (Contributor)
Jennings, Gary (Contributor)
Kammen, Michael (Contributor)
Kennedy, William (Contributor)
Kingsolver, Barbara (Contributor)
Kunz, Diane (Contributor)
Lukacs, John (Contributor)
McMurtry, Larry (Contributor)
McPherson, James M. (Contributor)
O’Brien, Tim (Contributor)
Reynolds, David S. (Contributor)
Smiley, Jane (Contributor)
Smith, Michael E. (Contributor)
Stegner, Wallace (Contributor)
Stowe, Harriet Beecher (Contributor)
Styron, William (Contributor)
Trouillot, Michel-Rolph (Contributor)
Updike, John (Contributor)
Vidal, Gore (Contributor)
West, Elliott (Contributor)
White, Richard (Contributor)
Wicker, Tom (Contributor)

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Novel History: Historians and Novelists Confront America's Past and Each Other
Original publication date
2001

Classifications

Genres
Literature Studies and Criticism, Nonfiction, Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
813.08109 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type Genre fiction Historical fiction History of American historical fiction
LCC
PS374 .H5 .N68 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Prose Prose fiction
BISAC
More Classifications

Statistics

Members
139
Popularity
235,234
Reviews
1
Rating
½ (3.30)
Languages
English
Media
Paper
ISBNs
3
ASINs
3