{"product_id":"2026100007436-secondhand-the-creative-present-notes-on-contemporary-american-fiction","title":"The Creative Present: Notes On Contemporary American Fiction","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Wear and tear with damage\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt a pivotal moment in American literary culture, The Creative Present: Notes on Contemporary American Fiction assembles some of the sharpest critical minds of the mid-twentieth century to take stock of a generation of writers who were redefining the nation's literary identity. Edited by Nona Balakian and Charles Simmons, this landmark anthology brings together incisive essays on towering figures such as Norman Mailer, Mary McCarthy, Truman Capote, Saul Bellow, John Updike, Bernard Malamud, James Jones, and Jack Kerouac, among others — each examined by a distinguished critic attuned to the writer's singular vision and cultural significance.\n\nA vital document of American literary criticism, the collection charts the contested terrain of individualism, social realism, and the radical imagination that animated postwar fiction. Balakian and Simmons assembled a roster of contributors — including Diana Trilling, Granville Hicks, and Robert Gorham Davis — whose essays crackle with intellectual urgency and critical authority. For readers who wish to understand not just the writers themselves but the broader cultural forces that shaped them, The Creative Present remains an indispensable compass — and a reminder that the most enduring literature always arrives in the thick of controversy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49130998661339,"sku":"2026100007436-SECONDHAND","price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/b6f6a27c-2229-4381-8f44-aea0d825c113.png?v=1786594135","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100007436-secondhand-the-creative-present-notes-on-contemporary-american-fiction","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}