Critical Modesty is marked by clarity, focus and drive. It concisely synthesises several themes in contemporary disciplinary debates, and makes a forthright intervention in them (though its potential polemicism is moderated by its kind tone and generous approach). It would be accessible to advanced undergraduates, and the close readings are sophisticated yet economical as Dancer foregrounds his authors' own critical projects in a series of tightly argued chapters.
Thom Dancer works at the University of Toronto where he studies and teaches contemporary fiction, the history of literary criticism, and novel theory.