Richard Powers, Generosity

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 2009

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Powers’ tenth novel is somewhat shorter than most of his previous efforts and may seem, at least in summary, more lightweight in its focus. (Of course, if “more lightweight” is simply a comparative measure limited to Powers’ own body of work, rather than a broad literary assessment, then the novel can be assumed to be much weightier in its themes than the works of most other novelists.) The central thematic question that

Generosity

explores is the nature of happiness, and the novel features characters who are determined to find answers to that question that can be packaged and sold both as entertainment and as a medical or pharmaceutical commodity—or, more precisely, as a commodity that can be marketed through the dumbed-down infotainment programming that dominates cable…

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1933 words

Citation: Kich, Martin. "Generosity". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41603, accessed 05 May 2024.]

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