Reading Vietnam amid the War on Terror argues that the examination of contemporary American war narratives can lead to newfound understandings of American literature, history, and national purpose. The book contends that these narratives trouble not only the jingoism pervasive in American culture, but also it's opposite-the ubiquitous cynicism about American national identity one encounters from within and without the halls of academe. The creative, controversial, and interdisciplinary approach will make this study of interest not only to scholars working in the growing field of contemporary...

Argues that the examination of contemporary American war narratives can lead to newfound understandings of American literature, American history, and American national purpose. To prove such a contention, the book blends literary, rhetorical, and cultural methods of analysis.

This study contends that American writer Cormac McCarthy not only is philosophical, or a -writer of ideas, - but rather that he has a philosophy. Devoting one main chapter to each facet of McCarthy's thought - his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, respectively - the study engages in focused readings of all of McCarthy's major works. Along the way, the study brings McCarthy's ideas into conversation with a host of philosophers who range from Plato to Alain Badiou, with figures such as William James, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and Slavoj Zižek featured prominently. Situated at...