Readings and Resources

Fiction at the End of the 20th Century


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English 232b - Spring 2002

Jay Clayton, Vanderbilt University

 

 

Books

Students should order their books online. The book covers below contain links that will take you directly to each title, but feel free to shop around for the best deal you can find.



 
 
 

Sandra Cisneros,
Woman Hollering Creek (1991) 

Don DeLillo,
White Noise (1991)

Charles Johnson, The Middle Passage (1990)

Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies (1999)

Toni Morrison, Jazz (1992)

Cynthia Ozick, The Shawl (1990)

Richard Powers, Plowing the Dark (2000)

Robert Stone, Damascus Gate (1998)

 

Additional Readings--Online:

 

Ed Falco's hypertext short story for the Web, "Charmin' Cleary." (This story is presented by the Eastgate Web Reading Room.)

Read Mary-Kim Arnold and Matthew Derby's hypertext, "Kokura." (This story is presented by the Eastgate Web Reading Room.)

Hypertext: "Lasting Image" by Carolyn Guyer and Michael Joyce

For excerpts from Boudrillard's writings, see Baudrillard on the Web, a site maintained by Alan Taylor, University of Texas-Arlington.


 
 

Films

Being John Malcovitch (1999), 
directed by Spike Jonze

The Matrix (1999), directed by 
Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski

Memento (2000), 
directed by Christopher Nolan

Suture (1993), directed by 
Scott McGehee and David Siegel

 

Recommended Films:

Latino/a Culture

Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua para chocolate) (1992), directed by Alfonso Arau and written by Laura Esquivel.

El Norte (1983), directed by Gregory Nava

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Un Señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes) (1988), directed by Fernando Birri and written by Gabriel García Márquez

Eréndira (1983), directed by Ruy Guerra and written byGabriel García Márquez

La Bamba (1987), directed by Luis Valdez

Corpus (1999), directed by Lourdes Portillo (this video recording is available at the media center in the library)


 

Postmodernism:

The Adjuster (1991), directed by Atom Egoyan

Blade Runner (1982; 1992), directed by Ridley Scott

Brazil (1985), directed by Terry Gilliam

Fight Club (1999), directed by David Fincher

Pulp Fiction (1994), directed by Quentin Tarantino

Time Code (2000), directed by Mike Figgis

Until the End of the World (1991), directed by Wim Wenders. Written by Peter Carey

The Usual Suspects (1995), directed by Bryan Singer 


 

Films about the Net, Cyborgs, and Virtual Reality: 

Artificial Intelligence: AI, Steven Spielberg (dir.)
Alien (1979), Ridley Scott (dir.) 
Aliens (1986), James Cameron (dir.) 
Alien III (1992), David Fincher (dir.) 
Alien: Resurrection (1997), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (dir.)
AntiTrust (2001), Peter Howitt (dir.)
Conceiving Ada (1997), Lynn Hershman-Leeson (dir.)
Disclosure (1994), Barry Levinson (dir.) 
Gattaca (1997), Andrew Niccol (dir.) 
Hackers (1995), Iain Softley (dir.) 
Hardware (1989), Richard Stanley (dir.) 
Johnny Mnemonic (1995), Robert Longo (dir.); based on a story by William Gibson. 
The Lawnmower Man (1992), Brett Leonard (dir.); based on a story by Stephen King. 
Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996), Farhad Mann (dir.) 
RoboCop (1987), Paul Verhoeven (dir.) 
The Sixth Day (2000), Roger Spottiswoode (dir.)
Sneakers (1992), Phil Alden Robinson (dir.) 
Strange Days (1995), Kathryn Bigelow (dir.); based on a story by James Cameron 
The Terminator (1984), James Cameron (dir.) 
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), James Cameron (dir.) 
THX 1138 (1970), George Lucas (dir.); Lucas's first feature film 
Total Recall (1990), Paul Verhoeven (dir.); based on a story by Philip K. Dick 
TRON (1982), Steven Lisberger (dir.) 
Videodrome (1983), David Cronenberg (dir.) 
Virtuosity (1995), Brett Leonard (dir.) 
War Games (1993), John Badham (dir.)

 
 
 
 
Jay Clayton
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt English