An overview of Cult Fiction, whatever that means. The introduction defines: "The term "cult fiction" implies lengthy and irrational devotion probably, though not necessarily, by an ardent minority, to an author or a book. A work that is reread over and over". But even that is not a clear definition. They add it could be due to the life of the author (short, controversial) or not. You could say that anyone whose work is compulsory reading at school cannot be "cult", but the book contains JD Salinger, Truman Capote and William Golding. It is very anglo-saxon in perspective, even if some French authors are included: Sartre, Camus, Perec, Saint-Exupéry, some Japanese such as Mishima and Murakami, etc. The scope is wide, and much more popular than the word 'cult' implies.
Luckily the authors don't take themselves too seriously. Special attention is given to artists with one 'cult' novel, in the "Isolation Ward", although to have Roberto Bolaño in that list is somewhat peculiar, considering his vast output, and special attention is given to Graphic Novels, which is even entirely American in nature, as if there were no great graphic novels from Europe and South America.
Anyway, it's a nice little book to browse through. Even if most names are known, and possibly not much new is to be learned, you can still find some suprises.
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