A sleek volume that expands our understanding of the Midwest through the writers who have portrayed it. Hailed by The Chicago Tribune for seeing the Midwest “for what it really is.”
In the public imagination, Midwestern literature has not evolved far beyond stories of heartland laborers and hardscrabble immigrants from past centuries. But as the region has changed, so has its fiction. In this book, Mark Athitakis explores how shifts in work, class, place, race, and culture have been reflected or ignored by contemporary novelists and short story writers. Authors Athitakis considers include Marilynne Robinson, Toni Morrison, Jane Smiley, Leon Forrest, Aleksandar Hemon, Bonnie Jo Campbell, and Stewart O’Nan.
This book is a call to reconsider the way we think about Midwestern fiction, and one that is sure to prompt some new must-have additions to your reading list.
In the public imagination, Midwestern literature has not evolved far beyond heartland laborers and hardscrabble immigrants of a century past. But as the region has changed, so, in many ways, has its fiction. In this book, the author explores how shifts in work, class, place, race, and culture has been reflected or ignored by novelists and short story writers. From Marilynne Robinson to Leon Forrest, Toni Morrison to Aleksandar Hemon, Bonnie Jo Campbell to Stewart O'Nan this book is a call to rethink the way we conceive Midwestern fiction, and one that is sure to prompt some new must-have additions to every reading list.
Industry Reviews
"In vigorous, supple, and readable prose, Mark Athitakis surveys the 21st century cultural landscape of a Midwest not defined by old pieties or prejudices, or its past canonical literary expression." --Bill Savage, professor, Northwestern University "[The New Midwest] rightly praises the Midwestern novels of Marilynne Robinson, Jeffrey Eugenides, Toni Morrison and Jonathan Franzen, but also points out works of comparable merit that warrant rediscovery." -- Washington Post "Athitakis parses how the best Midwestern fiction punctures the region's superficially comforting image and re-examines its past to uncover a less idyllic, more troubled history." -- Huffington Post "In The New Midwest, [Athitakis] attempts to illustrate the variations within the region's literature in just under 100 pages. He delves into how writers have yet to really interrogate the region's modern-day relationship with issues surrounding social class, place, and race." -- Lit Hub "The New Midwest is a crisp, engaging tip sheet and guide for further reading." -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal "[In The New Midwest] Athitakis' selections are sharp, and his close-readings succinct, and his wrangling of these many works and many subjects into conversation is as necessary as it is daunting ... At its best, the book is an illustrative and auxiliary text to anyone seeking a better comprehension of the Midwest, its history, the ongoing cultural discourses surrounding it and, of course, the discourse surrounding the stories the region tells and the stories we tell about it." -- The New Territory "Readers may cavil with Athitakis' choices, but they can't question his research, erudition, and clarity of expression." -- Kirkus Reviews "A good work of fiction can help you see the world differently. A good work of criticism can help you see a good book differently, which, in turn, alters the world again ... Using the lens of novels and short stories published over the past 30 or so years, Athitakis seeks to illuminate the ways we still lean on literary mythology of the Midwest when it comes to defining the region." -- Chicago Tribune "Mark Athitakis is among the greatest of the new critics: the wit of his perception is perfectly matched by the elegance of his expression. He does the thing you need: tells what you need to read, and why. And reminds us why we read--because his stuff is such thrilling, brain-enhancing fun." --David Lipsky, author, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace "Among the most impressive aspects of Athitakis' work is his comprehensive knowledge of the writers of the region, both former and current . . . [Readers] can't question his research, erudition, and clarity of expression." --Kirkus Reviews "The very best criticism delights as it elucidates. Athitakis does both with his dead-on look at the fiction of the Midwest, from Cather to Frantzen, and Midwesterners' eternal conflict between person and place. I loved this book." --Robert Goolrick, author, A Reliable Wife The very best criticism delights as it elucidates. Athitakis does both with his dead-on look at the fiction of the Midwest, from Cather to Frantzen, and Midwesterners eternal conflict between person and place. I loved this book." Robert Goolrick, author, A Reliable Wife"
