Title: Power to hurt
First published: 1998
Description: William Monroe addresses what William J. Bennett ignores in The Book of Virtues: How do readers use literature as "equipment for living"?

Tackling modernism and postmodernism, Monroe outlines "virtue criticism," an alternative to current theory. He focuses on works by T. S. Eliot, Vladimir Nabokov, and Donald Barthelme to demonstrate that these alienistic texts are not just filled with belligerence but are also endowed with virtues, such as trust and the promise of solidarity with the reader.

By considering these vital texts as responses to personal situations and institutional practices, Monroe brings literature back to the common reader and shows how it offers functional responses to the dysfunctional situations of modern life. Readers interested in literary criticism, American culture, and the relationship between ethics and literature will be fascinated by virtue criticism and Monroe's fresh look at the virtues and vices of alienation.
Subjects: History and criticism, Literature and society, Violence in literature, Postmodernism (Literature), English literature, American literature, Social isolation in literature, Boredom in literature, Alienation (Social psychology) in literature, History, American literature, history and criticism, 20th century, English literature, history and criticism, 20th century, Littérature américaine, Histoire et critique, Aliénation (Psychologie sociale) dans la littérature, Isolement social dans la littérature, Ennui (Lassitude) dans la littérature, Violence dans la littérature, Postmodernisme (Littérature), Littérature et société, Histoire, Littérature anglaise, Entfremdung, Literatur, Aliénation sociale, Dans la littérature, Ennui, Isolement social
Places: English-speaking countries
Time periods: 20th century
LC classification: PS228.A6 M66 1998