Biography of the novelist; analysis of the novel; reviews of the novel; the novel's standing today (TV, film, prizes, etc); further reading, discussion questions, websites;
Cairns Craig, Edinburgh University
"Study Aids Get Chic Concerned about keeping up at the book club?
Stuck for something to say when dinner party talk turns to Zadie
Smith? Or no time to read Captain Corelli's Mandolin before the
movie comes out? Never fear, cool new study aids are here in the
form of Continuum Contemporaries....The Novel Approach, a series of
handy readers' guides to contemporary fiction. Launching in
September, with further waves in January and May 2002, they're much
slicker than the frumpy cheat-aids of yore, including everything
from website links to review buzz, and deliberately featuring new
novels such as Bridget Jones's Diary, The Shipping News,
Trainspotting, and even the Harry Potter books." --Time Out
(London)
"A brilliant idea--short, perceptive books which tell you what you
need to know about some of the most vibrant and challenging writing
around today--a bit like having a reading group in your
pocket."--Ian Rankin
"The series comes as near to squaring various circles - popular /
academic, 'good read' / 'classic Lit', novel / film of the book as
any I know. And at best it goes a fair way towards reshuffling
those categories and redrawing the boundaries. With the first
volume, I was relieved. After two or three, I was hooked. The books
are invaluable for gathering out-of-the-way or ephemeral comment
from TV and radio interviews and the web as well as from literary
reviews. Refreshingly upfront and up-to-date... Given the space,
there are remarkably balanced film/novel comparisons of the most
well-known examples... An important feature is the fully referenced
bibliographies, including reviews and copious website addresses -
the latter ranging from fanzines and authors' and publishers' own
sites to academic discussion lists and online journals. In method
as in subject matter, these guides move freely on the interface
between print culture and multimedia. Highly finished and
pleasantly handleable as books in their own right, they gesture
accommodatingly to both words and worlds beyond. Taking the series
as a whole, it also confirms two things: that narrative nowadays is
generically highly hybrid and increasingly cross-media; and that an
understanding of the processes of writing and reading 'contemporary
classic' (or at least 'currently famous') fiction cannot be
separated - yet must be distinguished - from the processes of
making and marketing books and films." -- The Times Higher
Education Supplement, May 31, 2002
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