Small World: An Academic Romance
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Very Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears.. Page Condition: Good — pages appear clean and bright with minimal tanning. Markings: No visible markings. Binding: Tight and secure, no loose pages. Stickers/Labels: None visible.
A razor-sharp comic novel set in the glamorous and absurd world of international academia, Small World follows the interconnected lives of literary scholars as they jet between conferences from Rummidge to Tokyo, each pursuing their own romantic, professional, or intellectual obsessions. David Lodge constructs a brilliantly intricate narrative that parodies the conventions of medieval romance — knights on quests, damsels in distress, and a symbolic Grail — transposing them onto the modern circuit of grants, tenure, and literary theory. The novel presents a wickedly satirical portrait of the academy, skewering departmental rivalries, postmodern criticism, and the absurdities of conference culture with irresistible wit. Part of Lodge's celebrated Campus Trilogy, it stands as a landmark of British comic fiction, drawing comparisons to Chaucer and Ariosto while remaining entirely and hilariously contemporary.
Author: David Lodge
Format: Hardback
Published: 1984, Secker & Warburg
Genre: Modern fiction
Condition remarks:
Condition: Very Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears.. Page Condition: Good — pages appear clean and bright with minimal tanning. Markings: No visible markings. Binding: Tight and secure, no loose pages. Stickers/Labels: None visible.
A razor-sharp comic novel set in the glamorous and absurd world of international academia, Small World follows the interconnected lives of literary scholars as they jet between conferences from Rummidge to Tokyo, each pursuing their own romantic, professional, or intellectual obsessions. David Lodge constructs a brilliantly intricate narrative that parodies the conventions of medieval romance — knights on quests, damsels in distress, and a symbolic Grail — transposing them onto the modern circuit of grants, tenure, and literary theory. The novel presents a wickedly satirical portrait of the academy, skewering departmental rivalries, postmodern criticism, and the absurdities of conference culture with irresistible wit. Part of Lodge's celebrated Campus Trilogy, it stands as a landmark of British comic fiction, drawing comparisons to Chaucer and Ariosto while remaining entirely and hilariously contemporary.