Richard Powers, The Echo-Maker

Martin Kich (Wright State University)

Ed. by Sofia Ahlberg, Uppsala University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2006

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Powers’ fourth novel

, Operation Wandering Soul

, was a finalist for the National Book Award, but this novel, his ninth, not only received the National Book Award but was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. It is worth asking if there is something that distinguishes this novel from Powers’ previous eight novels, or if it is more the case that the National Book Award is, in effect, a recognition of his whole body of work. The one aspect of

Operation Wandering Soul

and

The Echo Maker

that somewhat set them apart is that they are both set primarily in hospitals—that is, the focus on characters facing very serious health crises may serve to make them seem more fully human and therefore more fully realized. That said, almost all of Powers’ novels feature someone dealing with serious…

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3178 words

Citation: Kich, Martin. "The Echo-Maker". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 April 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21618, accessed 04 May 2024.]

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