Mass-Market Fiction and the Crisis of American Liberalism 1972¿2017 tracks the transformation
of liberal thought in the contemporary United States through the unique lens of the popular
paperback. The book focuses on cultural shifts as they appear in works written by some of the
most widely-read authors of the last fifty years: the idea of love within a New Economy
(Danielle Steel) the role of government in scientific inquiry (Michael Crichton) entangled
political alliances and legacies in the aftermath of the 1960s (Tom Clancy) the restructured
corporation (John Grisham) and the blurred line between state and personal empowerment (Dean
Koontz). To address the current crisis this book examines how the changed character of
American liberalism has been rendered legible for a mass audience.
