The waste fix : seizures of the sacred from Upton Sinclair to the Sopranos

Author(s)

    • Little, William G.

Bibliographic Information

The waste fix : seizures of the sacred from Upton Sinclair to the Sopranos

William G. Little

(Literary criticism and cultural theory, . Outstanding dissertations)(A Routledge series)

Routledge, 2002

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-172) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

First 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.

Table of Contents

Contents 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

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