Written over the second decade of the 21st century and ending with the Oxford English Dictionary's adoption of the word "post-truth" in 2016, The Work of Literature in an Age of Post-Truth is a defense of the role of a humanities and liberal arts education at a time when these traditions can seem quaint or outdated in comparison to social media communications and viral (and often fake) news.

English and environmental studies professor Christopher Schaberg works carefully over a range of timely topics-including work, ecological awareness, sincerity, and irony-defending and...