000			03086cam a2200385Ki 4500
001			ocn984342727
003			OCoLC
005			20240726105040.0
008			170426s2017 nbu ob s001 0 eng d
040			_aNT _beng _erda _epn _cNT _dEBLCP _dP@U _dYDX _dMERUC _dIDEBK _dJSTOR
020			_a9781496201645 _q((electronic)l(electronic)ctronic)
020			_a9781496201669 _q((electronic)l(electronic)ctronic)
050	0	4	_aPN3352 _b.C784 2017
049			_aMAIN
100	1		_aLetzler, David, _e1
245	1	0	_aThe cruft of fiction : _bmega-novels and the science of paying attention / _cDavid Letzler.
260			_aLincoln : _bUniversity of Nebraska Press, _c(c)2017.
300			_a1 online resource.
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_acomputer _bc _2rdamedia
338			_aonline resource _bcr _2rdacarrier
347			_adata file _2rda
490	0		_aFrontiers of narrative
504			_a2
520	8		_aWhat is the strange appeal of big books? The mega-novel, a genre of erudite tomes with encyclopedic scope, has attracted wildly varied responses, from fanatical devotion to trenchant criticism. Looking at intimidating mega-novel masterpieces from The Making of Americans to 2666, David Letzler explores reader responses to all the seemingly random, irrelevant, pointless, and derailing elements that comprise these mega-novels, elements that he labels "cruft" after the computer science term for junk code. Letzler suggests that these books are useful tools to help us understand the relationship between reading and attention. While mega-novel text is often intricately meaningful or experimental, sometimes it is just excessive and pointless. On the other hand, mega-novels also contain text that, though appearing to be cruft, turns out to be quite important. Letzler posits that this cruft requires readers to develop a sophisticated method of attentional modulation, allowing one to subtly distinguish between text requiring focused attention and text that must be skimmed or even skipped to avoid processing failures. "The Cruft of Fiction" shows how the attentional maturation prompted by reading mega-novels can help manage the information overload that increasingly characterizes contemporary life.
505	0	0	_aCover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction: Information and Attention in the Mega- Novel; 1. The Dictionary; 2. The Encyclopedia; 3. Life- Writing; 4. The Menippean Satire; 5. Episodic Narrative; 6. The Epic and the Allegory; Conclusion: The Fate of the Mega-Novel; Source Acknowledgments; Notes; Bibliography; Index
530			_a2 _ub
650		0	_aFiction _xPsychological aspects.
650		0	_aReading, Psychology of.
655		1	_aElectronic Books.
856	4	0	_uhttps://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1508337&site=eds-live&custid=s3260518 _zClick to access digital title | log in using your CIU ID number and my.ciu.edu password
942			_cOB _D _eEB _hPN. _m2017 _QOL _R _x _8NFIC _2LOC
994			_a92 _bNT
999			_c87269 _d87269
902			_a1 _bCynthia Snell _c1 _dCynthia Snell