{"product_id":"9781501375453","title":"Work in Progress Curatorial Labor in Twenty-First-Century American Fiction","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThinking Media\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eWork in Progress\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eCuratorial Labor in Twenty-First-Century American Fiction\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRieke Jordan | Bernd Herzogenrath | Patricia Pisters\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eSocial Science \/ Media Studies\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWork in Progress: Curatorial Labor in Twenty-First Century American Fiction \u003c\/i\u003einterrogates contemporary texts that showcase forms of reading practices that feel anachronistic and laborious in times of instantaneity and short buffering times. Objects of analysis include the graphic narrative \u003ci\u003eBuilding Stories \u003c\/i\u003eby Chris Ware, the music album \u003ci\u003eSong Reader\u003c\/i\u003e by the indie rock artist Beck Hansen, and the computer game \u003ci\u003eKentucky Route Zero\u003c\/i\u003e by the programming team Cardboard Computer. These texts stage their fragmentary nature and alleged “unfinishedness” as a quintessential part of both their narrative and material modus operandi. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese works in and of progress feel both contemporary and retro in the 21st century. They draw upon and work against our expectations of interactive art in the digital age, incorporating and likewise rejecting digital forms and practices. This underlines the material and narrative flexibilities of the objects, for no outcome or reading experience is the same or can be replicated. It becomes apparent that the texts presuppose a reader who invests her spare time in figuring these texts out, diagnosing a contorted work-leisure dichotomy: “working these stories out” is a significant part of the reading experience for the reader–curatorial labor. This conjures up a reader, who, as the author argues, is turned into a curator and creative entity of and in these texts, for she implements and reassembles the options made available.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eRieke Jordan\u003c\/b\u003e is Assistant Professor at the Department of English and American Studies at Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e28 January 2021\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781501375453\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePaperback softback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e216\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9.12\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51332980965516,"sku":"9781501375453","price":40.46,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_b9dbc15a-1ffa-45df-9d28-e3a93ce044f0.jpg?v=1783607936","url":"https:\/\/lateknightbooks.com\/products\/9781501375453","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}