On Tue, 6 Mar 2001 Jlcranford at aol.com wrote:
> Thank you. Anyone else have any thoughts/suggestions (characters in
> postmodern American literature who are interested in, obsessed with,
> or relating in some other way to celebrity)?
Does it have to be North American postmodern literature? If it's just postmodern literature, my favorite in this category would have to be _Kiss of the Spider Women_ by Manuel Puig. The book is composed entirely of unattributed dialogue, and probably succeeds better than any other book I've read in making that device entirely integral to the drama. Both characters (but especially one of them) narrate their relations indirectly through a narration of their favorite movies. The two characters also act out each other's roles to the point of undergoing a bit of a personality swap. In both cases, the momentary confusion as to who is speaking increases the reader's pleasure and often perfectly expresses the drama of ambiguity. At any rate, the way movie stars allow people to act out, and how it relates to the co-acting out that is part of the drama of everyday life, plays a very central role in the novel. And if you're thinking of assigning it, it's extremely short.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com