Essentials of the Theory of Fiction

by Michael J. Hoffman, Patrick D. Murphy

This second edition of Essentials of the Theory of Fiction provides a comprehensive view of the theory of fiction from the nineteenth century, through modernism and postmodernism, to the present. Expanded and revised, it has new selections from contemporary theorists, including Henry Louis Gates Jr., Peter Brooks, Linda Hutcheon, David Lodge, Barbara Foley, and others.

Selections M. M. Bakhtin, John Barth, Roland Barthes, Wayne Booth, Peter Brooks, Seymour Chatman, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Suzanne C. Ferguson, Barbara Foley, E. M. Forster, Joseph Frank, William Freedman, Norman Friedman, Joanne S. Frye, William H. Gass, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Gérard Genette, J. Arthur Honeywell, Linda Hutcheon, Henry James, Susan S. Lanser, Mitchell A. Leaska, George Levine, David Lodge, Georg Lukács, Gerald Prince, Patrocinio P. Schweickart, Tzvetan Todorov, Lionel Trilling, and Virginia Woolf

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Reference, Anthologies, Criticism

488 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 1988

Reviews

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neatly described, in a spur moment, I realize there are tons of ideologies constructed within theories of fiction. This is good for people who want to dig deeper into an exploration of the role that literature plays in social life and individual experience, in particular social, cultural, and historical settings.

[Lucia]

What a journey 😭

[Apoorva · Rating 4 out of 5]

MFA Reading List book 2. A great anthology, with stellar references and recommended readings. Covers sizeable ground too.

[Chanel Earl]

I read much of this for a creative writing theory class. Every section I read was great.

[Mills College Library]

809.3 E78 2005