Marked Men: White Masculinity in Crisis

A study of post-Vietnam American literature and culture focusing on narratives of bodily trauma evident in a wide range of texts by and about other white men.

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Analyzes reconstructions of white masculinity within mainstream America during the 1960s through 1980s. Material is organized around political, academic, cultural, emotional, and sexual sites of crisis to chart a movement from the political to the personal which characterized the period. Locates the birth of the crisis in white masculinity in the "discovery" of Middle America following the 1968 election of Richard Nixon, then examines the work of authors including John Updike, Philip Roth, John Irving, and Stephen King. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sally Robinson is associate professor of English at Texas A& M University and the author of Engendering the Subject: Gender and Self-Representation in Contemporary Women's Fiction.