The Extension of Life: Fiction and History in the American Novel.(Book Review)

Publication: The Modern Language Review

Publication Date: 01-JUL-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Modern Humanities Research Association

The Extension of Life: Fiction and History in the American Novel. By R. A. YORK. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; London: Associated University Presses. 2003. 178 pp. 30 [pounds sterling]. ISBN 0-8386-3986-5.

Richard York sets out to answer a good question: what can fiction do that factual narrative cannot? An initial chapter provides an introduction, to be warmly recommended to novice undergraduates, on the nature of narratology (Henry James, Percy Lubbock, Wayne Booth, Dorrit Cohn, and others), arguing that fiction has several advantages: it multiplies stories and subjectivities; it allows for the 'what if?' question; and it can lie. Above all,...

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