Mark Lawson tells the story of how American writing became the literary superpower of the 20th century, telling the nation's stories of money, power, sex, religion and war
Mark Lawson traces how American writers have explored the violent divisions in US society caused by differences over race and wealth.
DetailsMark Lawson traces the way a group of young Americans returning from WWII turned the US into a literary superpower.
DetailsMark Lawson traces the way fiction in the USA is being renewed by writers from different backgrounds but also threatened by commercial pressures.
DetailsIn books from John Updike's Rabbit quartet to Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping, writers have captured the texture of everyday life in different regions of America.
DetailsHow a historically Puritan country was challenged by a series of novels and plays exploring sexual expression. Authors include Susanna Moore, Armistead Maupin and Philip Roth.
DetailsHow authors have reflected American foreign policy from Vietnam to 9/11 in fiction about protests, lies, spies and terrorists.
DetailsMark Lawson takes The Philip Roth Tour and reflects on literary celebrity, from the reclusive JD Salinger to Jay McInerney and Tom Wolfe's versions of themselves.
DetailsMark Lawson explores the radicalism of playwrights including Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams who questioned the rhetoric of politicians claiming the triumph of capitalism.
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