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Retroland

A Reader's Guide to the Dazzling Diversity of Modern Fiction

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Retroland

By: Peter Kemp
Narrated by: Keval Shah
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The essential companion for lovers of the contemporary novel

Over the past fifty years, fiction in English has never looked more various. Books bulkier than Victorian three-deckers appear alongside works of minimalist brevity, and experiments with form have produced everything from verse novels to Twitter-thread narratives. This is truly a golden age.

But what unites this kaleidoscopic array of genres and styles?

Celebrated writer and critic Peter Kemp shows how modern writers are obsessed with the past. In a series of engaging and illuminating chapters, Retroland traces this novelistic preoccupation with history, from the imperial and the political to the personal and the literary.

Featuring famous names from across the United Kingdom, United States, and the wider Anglophone world, ranging from Salman Rushdie to Sarah Waters, Toni Morrison to Hilary Mantel, this is a work of remarkable synthesis and clarity—an enjoyably opinionated guide to our current literary landscape.

©2023 Peter Kemp (P)2023 Tantor European Literary History & Criticism World Literature United Kingdom
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I have never been moved to review on the basis of a narrator but this is appalling. Despite the well-modulated tones, the narrator is ignorant of many pronunciations and the emphasis and phrasing imply a complete lack of comprehension of the text. It’s a real shame as the book is worth a listen.

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