The American Dream and the Popular Novel - Routledge Library Editions: The American Novel 1st edition

This title, originally published in 1985, examines conceptions of success and the good life expressed in bestselling novels ? ranging from historical sagas and spy thrillers to more serious works by Updike, Bellows, Steinbeck and Mailer ? published from 1945 to 1975. Using these popular books as cultural evidence, Elizabeth Long argues that the meaning of the American dream has changed dramatically, but in a more complex fashion than has been recognised by that country?s most prominent social critics. Her study presents a challenge to prevailing social-scientific views of contemporary American culture, and represents, both in theory and method, an important contribution to the study of culture and social criticism.