In this important book, Ken Gelder offers a lively, progressive and comprehensive account of popular fiction as a distinctive literary field. Drawing on a wide range of popular novelists, from Sir Walter Scott and Marie Corelli to Ian Fleming, J. K. Rowling and Stephen King, his book describes for the first time how this field works and what its unique features are. In addition, Gelder provides a critical history of three primary genres - romance, crime fiction and science fiction - and looks at the role of bookshops, fanzines and prozines in the distribution and evaluation of popular fiction. Finally, he examines five bestselling popular novelists in detail - John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Anne Rice, Jackie Collins and J. R. R. Tolkien - to see how popular fiction is used, discussed and identified in contemporary culture.
Introduction Part 1: Defining the Field 1. Popular Fiction: The Opposite of Literature? 2. Genre: History, Attitudes, Practice 3. Processing Popular Fiction: Bookshops, Fans, Fanzines and Prozines, Organizations Part 2: Five Popular Novelists 4. (Lo-tech) John Grisham and (Hi-tech) Michael Crichton: Putting the Thriller to Work 5. The Vampire Writes Back: Anne Rice and the (Re)Turn of the Author 6. Jackie Collins, Anti-Romance and the Celebrity Novel 7. J.R.R. Tolkien and Global Terrorism Conclusion Bibliography Index
