Niche query for novel studies scholars: who was it who said that the basic plot of the Bildungsroman or the 19C novel could be boiled down to the sequence of two classic titles: Great Expectations, Lost Illusions? Moretti? Thanks!

In time for April Fool's Day, which may be apt, my article on Gothic fiction and #18thc hoaxing has appeared in Novel, in a banger of an issue on Belief in Fiction, co-ed by @danielhack.bsky.social & Rachel Ablow. Take a look at this exciting t.o.c. I'm grateful to be in such great company.

I'm thrilled that this is now in the world: a special issue of NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, guest-edited by Rachel Ablow and me, on "Belief in Fiction." Wherein we are joined by a dream team of contributors: Colin Jager, Tim Bewes, Deidre Lynch, Ian Duncan, Ayelet Ben-Yishai, and Amy Hollywood.

Join us Mon 2/9 at Noon (ET) for a free seminar: "Spatiotemporal dynamics of geographic range in seasonally migratory birds" w/ Matthew Hack, PhD candidate, University of Michigan; 2024 AOS Student Research Grant winner. #AOSmembers americanornithology.org/calendar/spa... #AOS_SRGS

“But how full and lasting is this healing? We don’t know.” New at PB: Daniel Hack on the enigmas of J. L. Carr’s “A Month in the Country.”

B-Sides: J. L. Carr’s “A Month in the Country” - Public Books

The impact of the novel’s silences and enigmas is amplified by the enigma that is Carr himself.

publicbooks.org

My university is encouraging me to use ChatGPT for my research, and I'm so glad I did. Otherwise I never would have known about @carolinelevine.bsky.social's 2004 article, "Victorian Plots and the Twentieth Century Novel: The Case of Kazuo Ishiguro"! Sounds fascinating! How could I have missed it?

We find reassurance where we can. They say the English major is dying and no one reads anymore, but some one left a beat-up copy of MCTEAGUE on the "free books" shelf in my department this morning and it's already gone.