Uses of Literature bridges the gap between literary theory and common-sense beliefs about why we read literature.

• Explores the diverse motives and mysteries of why we read
• Offers four different ways of thinking about why we read literature - for recognition, enchantment, knowledge, and shock
• Argues for a new -phenomenology- in literary studies that incorporates the historical and social dimensions of reading
• Includes examples of literature from a wide range of national literary traditions

Part of the Blackwell Manifestos series, The State of the Novel offers a lively, yet rigorous investigation into the state and future of the contemporary British novel written by an expert in the field.

• Evaluates the state of the 'serious literary' novel and novel criticism
• Prominent treatment is paid to the 'internationalization' of the novel in English
• Offers a manifesto on contemporary fiction from an expert in this field; Dominic Head is best known for his Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction 1950-2000
• Establishes the shared...

Art Is Not What You Think It Is utilizes original research to present a series of critical incursions into the current state of debate on the idea of art, making manifest what has been largely missing or unsaid in those discussions.

• Links museology, history, theory, and criticism to the realities of contemporary social conditions and shows how they have structurally functioned in a variety of contexts
• Deals with divisive and controversial problems such as blasphemy and idolatry, and the problem of artistic truth
• Addresses relations between...