附註:Includes bibliographical references (page xlii).
Pretext: Criticism and fiction in an age of subversions -- 1. The essay as polemic: John Barth: fiction in an age of criticism -- Ishmael Reed's multicultural aesthetic -- John Irving's world according to fiction -- 2. The essay as lyric: John Updike's America -- Grace Paley: the sociology of metafiction -- Robley Wilson's experimental realism -- 3. The essay as meditation: John Gardner's Grendel -- Thomas McGuane: the novel of manners -- Radicalized -- Richard Yates: the power of sadness -- 4. The essay as witness: Betrayed by Jerzy Kosinski -- At home with Dan Wakefield -- Postcards from Tom Glynn -- Subtext: The critic par lui-même.
