Love and Death in the American Novel

Fiedler's book of literary criticism beautifully articulates the obsessions of our national literature with copious examples and witty analysis. It will change the way you understand American literature, pointing out common touchstones in our novels from the beginning of the nation through the mid-twentieth century (when it was written), with insights that still apply to the books being published today.

Time and again, I come back to this work of criticism because of its daring arguments. Fiedler attempts nothing less than a comparison of American fiction with English, French, and Russian literature.

If some of his arguments will leave you scratching your head, others will make you look at novels from an entirely different perspective and provide a new understanding of works you thought you knew.