Mark Athitakis

"Dives deep into Midwestern literature, unpacking the mythology of the region and how today's writers are complicating our simple idea of the Heartland." —Huffington Post

 

In the public imagination, Midwestern literature has not evolved far beyond heartland laborers and hardscrabble immigrants of a century past. But as the region has changed, so, in many ways, has its fiction. In this book, the author explores how shifts in work, class, place, race, and culture has been reflected or ignored by novelists and short story writers. From Marilynne Robinson to Leon Forrest, Toni Morrison to Aleksandar Hemon, Bonnie Jo Campbell to Stewart O'Nan this book is a call to rethink the way we conceive Midwestern fiction, and one that is sure to prompt some new must-have additions to every reading list.

 

"Using the lens of novels and short stories published over the past 30 or so years, Athitakis seeks to illuminate the ways we still lean on literary mythology of the Midwest when it comes to defining the region." —Chicago Tribune

 

"[The New Midwest] rightly praises the Midwestern novels of Marilynne Robinson, Jeffrey Eugenides, Toni Morrison and Jonathan Franzen, but also points out works of comparable merit that warrant rediscovery." —The Washington Post

 

"The New Midwest is a crisp, engaging tip sheet and guide for further reading." —Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

 

"A journey through the Midwest and through some key works by writers [Athitakis] thinks are most effectively using the region in their fiction." —Kirkus Reviews

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