{"product_id":"writing-during-the-apocalypse-reflections-on-the-great-unraveling-9798765123218","title":"Writing During the Apocalypse: Reflections on the Great Unraveling","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAll of American literature is a tragedy. What we're living through now isn't a tragedy, however \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e- \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eit's a horror novel. W\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ehy bother writing when the world's on fire? \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRising authoritarianism. Covid. Inflation. Wealth disparity. War. Climate change. While every time period is marked by apocalyptic fears, it certainly seems like our current anxieties aren't ill placed. And yet, art and literature persist. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn captivating and culturally savvy prose, Ed Simon grapples with the notion that writers and their work ought to distract readers from the dire situation we face in these fetid days of the Anthropocene. He also addresses the wider question of what it's like to write during what could be the last decades of human civilization, arguing that to craft imaginative spaces through the magic of words isn't superfluous. Instead it exists at the core of human experience - as it always has and always will. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eExamining creativity as it has manifested in similarly dire circumstances in human history - in a broad range of authors and texts, such as the \u003ci\u003eBible\u003c\/i\u003e, Boccaccio's \u003ci\u003eDecameron, \u003c\/i\u003eVoltaire\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eOctavia Butler's \u003ci\u003eParable of the Sower\u003c\/i\u003e, and Stephen King's \u003ci\u003eThe Stand\u003c\/i\u003e - \u003ci\u003eWriting During the Apocalypse \u003c\/i\u003eeschews the easy defeatism of nihilism. Instead, it offers a hopeful perspective on the various ways that literary expression can endow a meaningless world with meaning and generate a spark in the darkness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith the infamous four horsemen as its guide, \u003ci\u003eWriting During the Apocalypse \u003c\/i\u003ehonors the literary life even during the end of the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ed Simon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Academic\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/22\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798765123218\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEd Simon\u003c\/b\u003e is Public Humanities Special Faculty in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University, USA, a staff writer for \u003ci\u003eLiterary Hub, \u003c\/i\u003e and the editor of \u003ci\u003eBelt Magazine.\u003c\/i\u003e A widely published author, his work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New Republic, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review, \u003c\/i\u003eamong dozens of others. Author of over a dozen books, his \u003ci\u003eDevil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain \u003c\/i\u003ewas included in the \"Best Books of 2024\" by \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Ed Simon \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":47876629299357,"sku":"9798765123218","price":42.77,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_f711cf01-8ec4-496e-afe5-e38d35d5decf.jpg?v=1777383643","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/writing-during-the-apocalypse-reflections-on-the-great-unraveling-9798765123218","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}