Reading the 21st century books of the decade, 2000-2009 - Persky, Stan (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011)
Includes index
Introduction: In the twilight of literary criticism -- The storyteller : Larry McMurtry -- Indelible : Philip Roth's human stain -- Heroes : Javier Cercas's soldiers of Salamis -- Ignorance in the desert -- The snowflake from the snow : Orhan Pamuk -- In the land of Amos Oz : a tale of love and darkness -- Homeland alone : 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq -- Lost and found : Daniel Mendelsohn -- Walking, seeing, shelving -- The Gods that failed : Richard Dawkins -- Exit strategies : Said, Coetzee, Saramago, Roth -- Other voices, other realms -- Haunted by a spectre : Krugman, Klein, Stiglitz -- Conclusion: Code red -- Appendix: Some prize lists
"The first decade of the twenty-first century was noteworthy for war, terror, religious revival, economic collapse, and a technological revolution that prompted countless critical responses and gave rise to a paradox: writing flourished, but reading declined. Reading the 21st Century investigates the urgent themes, major works, and crisis of reading in an era of instant communication. In wide-ranging and innovative criticism, Stan Persky examines international non-fiction and fiction to engage with both the triumphs and tensions of reading and writing today. Evaluating works by established authors Philip Roth, Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, and Joseþ Saramago, as well as emerging writers like Naomi Klein, Javier Cercas, and Chimamanda Adichie, Persky also showcases a remarkable group of reporters - Steve Coll, Dexter Filkins, and Rajiv Chandrasekaran - who have written essential books about global issues. An illuminating and accessible work about the present age, Reading the 21st Century introduces new ways of thinking about the world's most significant cultural, political, and moral problems."--Publisher's website
Includes bibliographical references and index