{"product_id":"the-dream-of-the-great-american-novel","title":"The Dream of the Great American Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe idea of \"the great American novel\" continues to thrive almost as vigorously as in its nineteenth-century heyday  defying 150 years of attempts to dismiss it as amateurish or obsolete. In this landmark book  the first in many years to take in the whole sweep of national fiction  Lawrence Buell reanimates this supposedly antiquated idea  demonstrating that its history is a key to the dynamics of national literature and national identity itself. The dream of the G.A.N.  as Henry James nicknamed it  crystallized soon after the Civil War. In fresh  in-depth readings of selected contenders from the 1850s onward in conversation with hundreds of other novels  Buell delineates four \"scripts\" for G.A.N. candidates. One  illustrated by The Scarlet Letter  is the adaptation of the novels story-line by later writers  often in ways that are contrary to the original authors own design. Other aspirants  including The Great Gatsby and Invisible Man  engage the American Dream of remarkable transformation from humble origins. A third script  seen in Uncle Toms Cabin and Beloved  is the family saga that grapples with racial and other social divisions. Finally mega-novels from Moby-Dick to Gravitys Rainbow feature assemblages of characters who dramatize in microcosm the promise and pitfalls of democracy. The canvas of the great American novel is in constant motion  reflecting revolutions in fictional fashion  the changing face of authorship  and the inseparability of high culture from popular. As Buell reveals  the elusive G.A.N. showcases the myth of the United States as a nation perpetually under construction.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44962915909685,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674051157","price":81.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674051157.jpg?v=1770400533","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-dream-of-the-great-american-novel","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}