Recent Innovative Fiction
S07
Christopher Miller
“Be not the first by who the new are tried,” wrote Alexander Pope. “I must have the new, though there be none left in the world,” wrote La Fontaine. This course sides with La Fontaine. We will focus on American fiction published in the past 15 years, though date of manufacture is less important than freshness: the books we’ll be reading are not just recent and different, but continue to suggest new things to do with fiction. They are fun to think about because no consensus has emerged yet as to what they mean, how they mean, how to read them, whether to read them, and often even what to call them. We’ll read works by Nicholson Baker, Lydia Davis, Ben Marcus, Joe Brainard, Christian Bok, Harry Mathews, Steven Millhauser, Gilbert Sorrentino, Diane Williams, and others. There will be frequent writing assignments, both creative and critical.