{"product_id":"the-novel-an-alternative-history-beginnings-to-1600-paperback","title":"The Novel: An Alternative History: Beginnings to 1600 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSteven Moore\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEncyclopedic in scope and heroically audacious, \u003ci\u003eThe Novel: An Alternative History\u003c\/i\u003e is the first attempt in over a century to tell the complete story of our most popular literary form. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the novel did not originate in 18th-century England, nor even with \u003ci\u003eDon Quixote\u003c\/i\u003e, but is coeval with civilization itself. After a pugnacious introduction, in which Moore defends innovative, demanding novelists against their conservative critics, the book relaxes into a world tour of the pre-modern novel, beginning in ancient Egypt and ending in 16th-century China, with many exotic ports-of-call: Greek romances; Roman satires; medieval Sanskrit novels narrated by parrots; Byzantine erotic thrillers; 5000-page Arabian adventure novels; Icelandic sagas; delicate Persian novels in verse; Japanese war stories; even Mayan graphic novels. Throughout, Moore celebrates the innovators in fiction, tracing a continuum between these pre-modern experimentalists and their postmodern progeny.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSteven Moore (Ph.D. Rutgers, 1988) is the author of several books and essays on modern literature. From 1988 to 1996 he was managing editor of the Review of Contemporary Fiction\/Dalkey Archive Press, and for decades he has reviewed books for a variety of journals and newspapers, principally The Washington Post. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n        \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 704\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.86 x 8.81 x 5.68 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 27, 2011\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42118899990663,"sku":"9781441145475","price":59.17,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/e3acd77278e88a6eef2fc7d27907cf64.webp?v=1732537256","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/the-novel-an-alternative-history-beginnings-to-1600-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}