{"product_id":"9781587299551-reading-as-therapy","title":"Reading as Therapy","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat Contemporary Fiction Does for Middle-Class Americans\u003cbr\u003eArgues that contemporary fiction serves primarily as a therapeutic tool for lonely, dissatisfied middle-class readers, one that validates their own private dysfunctions while supporting elusive communities of strangers unified by shared feelings. Aubry persuasively makes the case that contemporary literature’s persistent appeal depends upon its capacity to perform a therapeutic function.\u003cbr\u003eWhy do Americans read contemporary fiction? This question seems simple, but is it? Do Americans read for the purpose of aesthetic appreciation? To satisfy their own insatiable intellectual curiosities? While other forms of media have come to monopolize consumers’ leisure time, in the past two decades book clubs have proliferated, Amazon has sponsored thriving online discussions, Oprah Winfrey has inspired millions of viewers to read both contemporary works and classics, and novels have retained their devoted following within middlebrow communities.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eReading as Therapy\u003c\/i\u003e, Timothy Aubry argues that contemporary fiction serves primarily as a therapeutic tool for lonely, dissatisfied middle-class American readers, one that validates their own private dysfunctions while supporting elusive communities of strangers unified by shared feelings. Aubry persuasively makes the case that contemporary literature’s persistent appeal depends upon its capacity to perform a therapeutic function.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAubry traces the growth and proliferation of psychological concepts focused on the subjective interior within mainstream, middle-class society and the impact this has had on contemporary fiction. The prevailing tendency among academic critics has been to decry the personal emphasis of contemporary fiction as complicit with the rise of a narcissistic culture, the ascendency of liberal individualism, and the breakdown of public life. \u003ci\u003eReading as Therapy\u003c\/i\u003e, by contrast, underscores the varied ideological effects that therapeutic culture can foster.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo uncover the many unpredictable ways in which contemporary literature answers the psychological needs of its readers, Aubry considers several different venues of reader-response—including Oprah’s Book Club and Amazon customer reviews—the promotional strategies of publishing houses, and a variety of contemporary texts, ranging from Khaled Hosseini’s \u003ci\u003eThe Kite Runner\u003c\/i\u003e to Anita Shreve’s \u003ci\u003eThe Pilot’s Wife\u003c\/i\u003e to David Foster Wallace’s \u003ci\u003eInfinite Jest\u003c\/i\u003e. He concludes that, in the face of an atomistic social landscape, contemporary fiction gives readers a therapeutic vocabulary that both reinforces the private sphere and creates surprising forms of sympathy and solidarity among strangers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55451759542646,"sku":"9781587299551","price":33.18,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_28583072.jpg?v=1743586657","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781587299551-reading-as-therapy","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}