This is a comprehensive study of the first decade of literary representations of 9/11, moving from Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers (2003) to Amy Waldman's The Submission (2012). It traces the way literature has dealt with an event that continues to resonate prominently in the American imagination and beyond, and argues that the corpus of literary fiction discussing 9/11 is characterized by a fundamental sense of conflictedness, a series of stark dichotomies and the tension between trauma and mourning and political imperatives or the rhetoric of epoch and nostalgia. Additionally,...

The Wire (2002-2008) was a searing exploration of post-9/11 America. It detailed the struggles of those living in America's disintegrating industrial heartlands and drug-ravaged neighborhoods, as well as those striving against the odds in its schools, hospitals and legal system. In the shadow of 9/11, while all eyes were turned towards Afghanistan and Iraq, The Wire was one of the few attempts to show the realities of America's dark corners. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have been evoked in discussions of The Wire , its compelling storylines and memorable cast of characters creating a level of...