Table Of ContentOUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,24/12/2019,SPi
American Literature and the Long
Downturn
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,24/12/2019,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,23/12/2019,SPi
American Literature
and the Long
Downturn
Neoliberal Apocalypse
DAN SINYKIN
1
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formyparents
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,24/12/2019,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,24/12/2019,SPi
Acknowledgments
I want to thank Kevin Attell, Jeremy Braddock, Cathy Caruth, and
Dagmawi Woubshet for guiding me from the beginning. To find such
fabulousmentorswasanincrediblestrokeofluck.
At Cornell, Joel Anderson, Adhaar Desai, Luke Donohue, Megan
Kruer, and Adin Lears were constant friends, who, over many dinners
and drinks, talked ideas and told me when I was wrong. Liz Blake,
Michaela Brangan, Jacob Brogan, Carl Gelderloos, Diana Hamilton,
James Ingoldsby, Thom May, Anna McCormick, and everyone in the
BigFatPostwarAmericanNovelReadingGroupbroughttoscholarlylife
camaraderieandjoy.IlearnedmuchfromtheTheoryReadingGroupin
all its instantiations and want to thank, especially, Liron Mor and
JohannesWankhammer.Thisbookbeganduringeveningconversations
with Nathan Taylor on the porch of 118 Sears Street, where I first
formulatedmostoftheseideas.
AtGrinnell,thestudentsof“NeoliberalApocalypse”helpedmethink
through the central questions of this book at a crucial stage. Steve
AndrewsgavemethepushIneededtogetbacktoworkonthis.
I spent a happy year at the College of Wooster rewriting and thank
Anthony Tognazzini for our rich conversations. Leslie Wingard pro-
vided important feedback on the first chapter. Laura Finch and Bertie
Woostermadelifeextraordinary.
At Notre Dame, Matt Wilkens was generous with his time, thought,
andcounsel.CJJoneswasalwaysupforanenergeticconversationabout
theoryoverdinner.FranciscoRoblesandBrandonMenkemademefeel
athomeinSouthBend.
As I moved between institutions, Post45 provided an intellectual
home. I am especially grateful to Sarah Chihaya, Annie McClanahan,
andRichardJeanSo.
Itisfrighteningtomeetone’sacademicdopplegänger.Fortunatelyfor
me,mineforthisbookisthebrilliantJessicaHurleywithwhomstudying
contemporary apocalypticism became a communal project. Jonathan
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,24/12/2019,SPi
viii
Eburne was a dream editor for the special issue of ASAP/Journal,
“Apocalypse,”thatJessandIco-edited.
This book is much better than it would have been otherwise thanks
to Eric Cheyfitz, Wai Chee Dimock, and Don Pease, whoread portions
along the way and offered crucial feedback. I am indebted to the
anonymous readers for Oxford University Press, my editor, Jacqueline
Norton, and my copyeditor, Tim Beck, who pointed me in the right
directions.
Kevin McNellis has read more of this book more times than anyone.
We often disagree, and that has made this book much more rigorous.
ThankstoMarissaBrostoff,CoryCochrane,MikeLittell,NicoleNovak,
andBenRatzlaff.
Thanks to my family: my brothers, Andy and Alex, and my parents,
StuandCarol.
MashaVlasovaismyworld,which,despitethedarknesssurrounding
us,isnowfulloflight.
SomeofthisbookwaspreviouslypublishedandIgratefullyacknowledge
permissiontorepublishhere.Mostofthismaterialhasbeenextensively
revised. An excerpt from theintroduction appeared in The Washington
Post as “This is the Philip Roth Novel that Explains Philip Roth.” An
excerpt from Chapter1 appeared in Dissent as “The Apocalyptic Bald-
win.”ExcerptsfromChapter2appearedinLosAngelesReviewofBooks
as“CharlesMansonandtheApocalypsetoCome”and“Trumpandthe
End Times.” An earlier version of Chapter3 appeared in American
LiteraryHistoryas“EveninginAmerica:BloodMeridianandtheOrigins
and Ends of Imperial Capitalism.” The editors there sharpened my
arguments, polished my prose, and clarified my vision. The excerpt
from “September 1, 1939,” © 1940 and renewed © 1968 by
W. H. Auden, from Selected Poems by W. H. Auden, edited by Edward
Mendelson, is used by permission of Vintage Books, an imprint of the
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random
HouseLLC.Allrightsreserved.
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,24/12/2019,SPi
Contents
Introduction 1
1. James Baldwin’s Apocalypse 23
2. White Rage, White Rapture 47
3. Evening in America 69
4. Human Capital 93
5. Almost Magic 123
Conclusion 149
Works Cited 161
Index 175
