Addiction, Representation and the Experimental Novel, 1985–2015

Heath A. Diehl is Teaching Professor in the Department of English and Honors College at Bowling Green State University. He is the author of Wasted: Performing Addiction in America.

• Introduction; 1. Bearing Witness: Leaving Las Vegas (1990); 2. Betraying: Dope (2006); 3. Gaslighting: The Girl on the Train (2015); 4. Transgressing: Less Than Zero (1985); 5. Disorienting: The Orange Eats Creeps (2010); Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

This thoroughly-researched book approaches the study of literature about addiction from a highly original perspective that combines affect theory and classic reader-response approaches in the analysis of readerly sympathy and empathy. Diehl demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of literature about, and theories of, addiction. While his close readings make this work invaluable to anyone teaching about addiction in the English literature classroom, his numerous examples also make it an essential source for any researcher interested in literary portrayals of addiction. — Brandon P. Bisbey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Spanish, Coordinator of Latina/o and Latin American Studies, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago.