Joseph Natoli teaches postmodernism and cultural studies at the Center for Integrative Studies/Arts and Humanities, Michigan State University, and is editor of the SUNY Press series in Postmodern Culture. He has written Mots D'Ordre: Disorder in Literary Worlds and Hauntings: Popular Film and American Culture 1990–1992, both published by SUNY Press, and A Primer to Postmodernity.

• Preface Speeding to the New Millennium Running with Gump Reality as Pulp Fiction The Abyss of the Postmodern Film Noir You're on the Air with Dr. Joy All the Virtues: the Films and Politics of Concealment The Bottom Line of Schindler's List: The Player is a Savior Nightmares of Depravity Now, That's an Alien!: Expanding the Repertoire of Alternative Descriptions "Klaatu Barada Nikto" Looking into the Abyss: Madmen and Fanatics American Maniacs: the Romance of Truly Natural Born Killers The Abyss as Reservoir: True Romance and Hard Love What Shoes Can Tell You Stranger Murders in Strange Worlds Disorder/Order Court & Culture: the Days of Our Lives with O.J. The Last Seduction: Commitment is Murder? Asking for and Getting Chaos: the Abyss of Human Sexuality Is a Foot Massage Sexual—On the Internet? Retreating to Xanadu: Technophobia.Technophilia@USA. 1995 Spray and Fire Post-Apocalyptic Rust and Rubble: Waterworld Eschatology Looking into the Abyss of Other People's Lives Antediluvian Bog Ghosts with Resumes/Vampires as Agents of Change Acoustic Archaeology The Call of the Crank: Being Captivated by Nell In the Shadow of Elvis and Mildred Pierce Index

"Speeding to the Millennium is a quirky, intelligent, and thought-provoking look at postmodern culture in America through the lens of popular movies and media events of the years 1993–1995. It covers a range of 'texts,' from Forrest Gump to Natural Born Killers to the O.J. Simpson trial, with wit and verve. Natoli doesn't so much 'read' these texts in a conventional manner, as he sees them as allegorical indications of the state of American social life at the close of the twentieth century. His method allows him to make surprising jumps and juxtapositions, as he moves from cinematic details to scary statistics about income distribution to personal ruminations, and back again. I like the book for the unexpected insights that crop up throughout, as well as for the way in which it balances political critique with the claims of pleasure and invention. Overall, Speeding to the Millennium presents a compelling vision of a culture suspended between corporate greed and new technological possibilities, as between the anxieties that lead it to yearn after an impossible return to the past, and the transformations that propel it into an uncertain future. Neither ideological critique nor aesthetic vision, the book partakes of both modes but uses them to create a new form of criticism: what might be called (if this is not too great an oxymoron) a prophetic collage." — Steven Shaviro, University of Washington"This book is a feast for the mind. Natoli has a gift for producing illuminating insights, for disclosing the telling ways in which popular culture intersects with the events that produce the headlines in our daily newspapers. I think the book is a must-read for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the confusing, increasingly violent, and perplexing times our society and world are undergoing today." — Karlis Racevskis, Ohio State University

Joseph Natoli teaches postmodernism and cultural studies at the Center for Integrative Studies/Arts and Humanities, Michigan State University, and is editor of the SUNY Press series in Postmodern Culture. He has written Mots D'Ordre: Disorder in Literary Worlds and Hauntings: Popular Film and American Culture 1990–1992, both published by SUNY Press, and A Primer to Postmodernity.

• Preface Speeding to the New Millennium Running with Gump Reality as Pulp Fiction The Abyss of the Postmodern Film Noir You're on the Air with Dr. Joy All the Virtues: the Films and Politics of Concealment The Bottom Line of Schindler's List: The Player is a Savior Nightmares of Depravity Now, That's an Alien!: Expanding the Repertoire of Alternative Descriptions "Klaatu Barada Nikto" Looking into the Abyss: Madmen and Fanatics American Maniacs: the Romance of Truly Natural Born Killers The Abyss as Reservoir: True Romance and Hard Love What Shoes Can Tell You Stranger Murders in Strange Worlds Disorder/Order Court & Culture: the Days of Our Lives with O.J. The Last Seduction: Commitment is Murder? Asking for and Getting Chaos: the Abyss of Human Sexuality Is a Foot Massage Sexual—On the Internet? Retreating to Xanadu: Technophobia.Technophilia@USA. 1995 Spray and Fire Post-Apocalyptic Rust and Rubble: Waterworld Eschatology Looking into the Abyss of Other People's Lives Antediluvian Bog Ghosts with Resumes/Vampires as Agents of Change Acoustic Archaeology The Call of the Crank: Being Captivated by Nell In the Shadow of Elvis and Mildred Pierce Index

"Speeding to the Millennium is a quirky, intelligent, and thought-provoking look at postmodern culture in America through the lens of popular movies and media events of the years 1993–1995. It covers a range of 'texts,' from Forrest Gump to Natural Born Killers to the O.J. Simpson trial, with wit and verve. Natoli doesn't so much 'read' these texts in a conventional manner, as he sees them as allegorical indications of the state of American social life at the close of the twentieth century. His method allows him to make surprising jumps and juxtapositions, as he moves from cinematic details to scary statistics about income distribution to personal ruminations, and back again. I like the book for the unexpected insights that crop up throughout, as well as for the way in which it balances political critique with the claims of pleasure and invention. Overall, Speeding to the Millennium presents a compelling vision of a culture suspended between corporate greed and new technological possibilities, as between the anxieties that lead it to yearn after an impossible return to the past, and the transformations that propel it into an uncertain future. Neither ideological critique nor aesthetic vision, the book partakes of both modes but uses them to create a new form of criticism: what might be called (if this is not too great an oxymoron) a prophetic collage." — Steven Shaviro, University of Washington"This book is a feast for the mind. Natoli has a gift for producing illuminating insights, for disclosing the telling ways in which popular culture intersects with the events that produce the headlines in our daily newspapers. I think the book is a must-read for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the confusing, increasingly violent, and perplexing times our society and world are undergoing today." — Karlis Racevskis, Ohio State University

Joseph Natoli teaches postmodernism and cultural studies at the Center for Integrative Studies/Arts and Humanities, Michigan State University, and is editor of the SUNY Press series in Postmodern Culture. He has written Mots D'Ordre: Disorder in Literary Worlds and Hauntings: Popular Film and American Culture 1990–1992, both published by SUNY Press, and A Primer to Postmodernity.

• Preface Speeding to the New Millennium Running with Gump Reality as Pulp Fiction The Abyss of the Postmodern Film Noir You're on the Air with Dr. Joy All the Virtues: the Films and Politics of Concealment The Bottom Line of Schindler's List: The Player is a Savior Nightmares of Depravity Now, That's an Alien!: Expanding the Repertoire of Alternative Descriptions "Klaatu Barada Nikto" Looking into the Abyss: Madmen and Fanatics American Maniacs: the Romance of Truly Natural Born Killers The Abyss as Reservoir: True Romance and Hard Love What Shoes Can Tell You Stranger Murders in Strange Worlds Disorder/Order Court & Culture: the Days of Our Lives with O.J. The Last Seduction: Commitment is Murder? Asking for and Getting Chaos: the Abyss of Human Sexuality Is a Foot Massage Sexual—On the Internet? Retreating to Xanadu: Technophobia.Technophilia@USA. 1995 Spray and Fire Post-Apocalyptic Rust and Rubble: Waterworld Eschatology Looking into the Abyss of Other People's Lives Antediluvian Bog Ghosts with Resumes/Vampires as Agents of Change Acoustic Archaeology The Call of the Crank: Being Captivated by Nell In the Shadow of Elvis and Mildred Pierce Index

"Speeding to the Millennium is a quirky, intelligent, and thought-provoking look at postmodern culture in America through the lens of popular movies and media events of the years 1993–1995. It covers a range of 'texts,' from Forrest Gump to Natural Born Killers to the O.J. Simpson trial, with wit and verve. Natoli doesn't so much 'read' these texts in a conventional manner, as he sees them as allegorical indications of the state of American social life at the close of the twentieth century. His method allows him to make surprising jumps and juxtapositions, as he moves from cinematic details to scary statistics about income distribution to personal ruminations, and back again. I like the book for the unexpected insights that crop up throughout, as well as for the way in which it balances political critique with the claims of pleasure and invention. Overall, Speeding to the Millennium presents a compelling vision of a culture suspended between corporate greed and new technological possibilities, as between the anxieties that lead it to yearn after an impossible return to the past, and the transformations that propel it into an uncertain future. Neither ideological critique nor aesthetic vision, the book partakes of both modes but uses them to create a new form of criticism: what might be called (if this is not too great an oxymoron) a prophetic collage." — Steven Shaviro, University of Washington"This book is a feast for the mind. Natoli has a gift for producing illuminating insights, for disclosing the telling ways in which popular culture intersects with the events that produce the headlines in our daily newspapers. I think the book is a must-read for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the confusing, increasingly violent, and perplexing times our society and world are undergoing today." — Karlis Racevskis, Ohio State University