David Letzler's Books

The Cruft of Fiction

Mega-Novels and the Science of Paying Attention

By: David Letzler

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The Cruft of Fiction

Mega-Novels and the Science of Paying Attention

By: David Letzler

A 2017 Choice Outstanding Academic Title What is the strange appeal of big books? The mega-novel, a genre of erudite tomes with encyclopedic scope, has attracted wildly varied responses, from fanatical devotion to trenchant criticism. Looking at intimidating mega-novel masterpieces from The Making of Americans to 2666, David Letzler explores reader responses to all the seemingly random, irrelevant, pointless, and derailing elements that comprise these mega-novels, elements that he labels “cruft” after the computer science term for junk code. In The Cruft of Fiction, Letzler suggests that these books are useful tools to help us understand the relationship between reading and attention. While mega-novel text is often intricately meaningful or experimental, sometimes it is just excessive and pointless. On the other hand, mega-novels also contain text that, though appearing to be cruft, turns out to be quite important. Letzler posits that this cruft requires readers to develop a sophisticated method of attentional modulation, allowing one to subtly distinguish between text requiring focused attention and text that must be skimmed or even skipped to avoid processing failures. The Cruft of Fiction shows how the attentional maturation prompted by reading mega-novels can help manage the information overload that increasingly characterizes contemporary life.

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Page Count

316

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496201663

ISBN 13

9781496201669

Tarell Alvin McCraney

Theater, Performance, and Collaboration

By: Sharrell D. Luckett,David Román,Isaiah Matthew Wooden

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Tarell Alvin McCraney

Theater, Performance, and Collaboration

By: Sharrell D. Luckett,David Román,Isaiah Matthew Wooden

This is the first book to dedicate scholarly attention to the work of Tarell Alvin McCraney, one of the most significant writers and theater-makers of the twenty-first century. Featuring essays, interviews, and commentaries by scholars and artists who span generations, geographies, and areas of interest, the volume examines McCraney’s theatrical imagination, his singular writerly voice, his incisive cultural critiques, his stylistic and formal creativity, and his distinct personal and professional trajectories. Contributors consider McCraney’s innovations as a playwright, adapter, director, performer, teacher, and collaborator, bringing fresh and diverse perspectives to their observations and analyses. In so doing, they expand and enrich the conversations on his much-celebrated and deeply resonant body of work, which includes the plays Choir Boy, Head of Passes, Ms. Blakk for President, The Breach, Wig Out!, and the critically acclaimed trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays: In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, and Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet, as well as the Oscar Award–winning film Moonlight, which was based on his play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.

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Page Count

382

Publisher

Northwestern University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0810141965

ISBN 13

9780810141964

The Dysfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism

By: Michael David Kaulana Ing

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The Dysfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism

By: Michael David Kaulana Ing

Michael Ing's The Dysfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism is the first monograph in English about the Liji--a text that purports to be the writings of Confucius' immediate disciples, and part of the earliest canon of Confucian texts called ''The Five Classics,'' included in the canon several centuries before the Analects. Ing uses his analysis of the Liji to show how early Confucians coped with situations where their rituals failed to achieve their intended aims. In contrast to most contemporary interpreters of Confucianism, Ing demonstrates that early Confucian texts can be read as arguments for ambiguity in ritual failure.

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Page Count

298

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199924910

ISBN 13

9780199924912

David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form

By: David Hering

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David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form

By: David Hering

A fresh reassessment of David Foster Wallace's entire fictional career and writing process"--

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Page Count

217

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

1628920556

ISBN 13

9781628920550

Words for the Theatre

Four Essays on the Dramatic Text

By: David Cole

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Words for the Theatre

Four Essays on the Dramatic Text

By: David Cole

In Words for the Theatre, playwright David Cole pursues a course of dramaturgical self-questioning on the part of a playwright, centred on the act of playwriting. The book’s four essays each offer a dramaturgical perspective on a different aspect of the playwright’s practice: How does the playwright juggle the transcriptive and prescriptive aspects of their activity? Does the ultimate performance of a playtext in fact represent something to which all writing aspires? Does the playwright’s process of withdrawing to create their text echo a similar process in the theatre more widely? Finally, how can the playwright counter theatre’s pervasive leaning towards the ‘mistake’ of realism? Suited to playwrights, teachers, and higher-level students, this volume of essays offers reflections on the questions that confront every playwright, from an author well-versed in supplying words for the theatre.

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Page Count

111

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1315283158

ISBN 13

9781315283159

The Cruft of Fiction

Mega-Novels and the Science of Paying Attention

By: David Letzler

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The Cruft of Fiction

Mega-Novels and the Science of Paying Attention

By: David Letzler

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N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

316

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496201663

ISBN 13

9781496201669

Book's by David Letzler

The Cruft of Fiction

The Cruft of Fiction

Tarell Alvin McCraney

Tarell Alvin McCraney

The Dysfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism

The Dysfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism

David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form

David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form

Words for the Theatre

Words for the Theatre

The Cruft of Fiction

The Cruft of Fiction

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