American Literature in Transition, 1970–1980

American Literature in Transition, 1970–1980 examines the literary developments of the twentieth-century's gaudiest decade. For a quarter century, filmmakers, musicians, and historians have returned to the era to explore the legacy of Watergate, stagflation, and Saturday Night Fever, uncovering the unique confluence of political and economic phenomena that make the period such a baffling time. Literary historians have never shown much interest in the era, however - a remarkable omission considering writers as diverse as Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon, Marilyn French, Adrienne Rich, Gay Talese, Norman Mailer, Alice Walker, and Octavia E. Butler were active. Over the course of twenty-one essays, contributors explore a range of controversial themes these writers tackled, from 1960s' nostalgia to feminism and the redefinition of masculinity to sexual liberation and rock 'n' roll. Other essays address New Journalism, the rise of blockbuster culture, memoir and self-help, and crime fiction - all demonstrating that the Me Decade was nothing short of mesmerizing.

Chronology; Introduction: sucking in the '70s Kirk Curnutt; Part I. Themes: 1. In the shadow of the 1960s: 'what do we do now?' Matthew Luter; 2. 'It's not okay with me': the 1970s war against nostalgia Steven Goldleaf; 3. 'We interrupt this program': narratives in conflict in American postmodern literature of the 1970s Eric G. Waggoner; 4. 'All in the family': ancestral voices and ancestral Gods in 1970s multiculturalism Christopher Douglas; 5. 'An element of present danger': jogging, football, and anxieties of vulnerability in 1970s sporting literature Ryan Hediger; 6. 'The zipless fuck is absolutely pure': sexual liberation and 1970s American literature Dale M. Bauer; Part II. Genres and the Business of Literature: 7. Our stories, our selves: memoir and self-help in the 'me decade' Nicole Stamant; 8. '(Not just) knee deep': black writing between soul and the mainstream Michael Hill; 9. Green letters in a decade black with ink: American environmental writing in the 1970s Will Elliott; 10. Future shocks: science fiction transformations in the 1970s Robin A. Roberts; 11. Death wishes: crime literature, violence, and detectives in the American 1970s Linda Wagner-Martin; 12. The Great American Novel in the 1970s Tom Perrin; 13. The bestseller and the blockbuster mentality Philip McGowan; 14. 'Do the hustle': showmanship, publicity, and the changing landscape of literary authority Tom Cerasulo; Part III. Cultural Engagements: 15. First to write: the 1970s and the Vietnamese War Alex Vernon; 16. Nixon burning: the anti-establishment turn in 1970s' American political writing David Seed; 17. The maturation of the new journalism in the 1970s Everette E. Dennis; 18. Rock is dead/long live rock: popular music in 1970s American literature Kirk Curnutt; 19. The confessional turn: masculinity and American literary culture in the 1970s James Penner; 20. The feminist 1970s Sam McBean; 21. Blood on the page: the decade gets its period David Linton; Conclusion: keep on truckin' Kirk Curnutt.

Kirk Curnutt is Professor and Chair of English at Troy University, Alabama. He is the author of fifteen books of criticism and fiction, including The Cambridge Introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald (Cambridge, 2007), Coffee with Hemingway (2007), and Reading Hemingway's To Have and Have Not (2016). A member of the boards of both the Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald societies, he has served as managing editor of The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review since 2003.