Class hours:

• Section 001: John Unsworth Bryan 328 MW 15:30-16:45
• Section 002: Laura Meyrich Bryan 332 MWF 12:00-12:50
• Section 003: Bill Albertini Bryan 312 MWF 9:00-9:50

Office hours:

• Unsworth: Monday 1-3 in Bryan 304B
• Meyrich: TBA in Bryan 232
• Albertini: Tues. 10-12 and Wed. 12-1:30 in Bryan 106

Browse the Bestsellers Database

Search the Bestsellers Database

Bestsellers by Decade:

1900-1909	1910-1919	1920-1929	1930-1939	1940-1949
1950-1959	1960-1969	1970-1979	1980-1989	1990-1994

Select a Bestseller

Course Description:

In this course, we will use 20th-century American literature as a means of understanding 20th-century America.  We will do so by reading best-selling novels and analyzing the causes and components of their popularity.  As an optional component of the course, we may watch film versions of the assigned readings, and supplementary reading will focus on American history, the publishing industry, and the profession of authorship in America. In the fall of 1999, the course theme will be "Family in America."

Assignments:

Students will be required to complete a series of assignments during the semester, focused on a single best-seller (chosen from the lists of bestsellers by decade, below, but not one of the required readings for the course). These assignments will comprise a bibliographical description of a first edition, a publication history (including performances in other media, if any), a biographical sketch of the author, a reception history, and a critical analysis of the work in its cultural and literary contexts. All of these assignments will be submitted online, using Web-based submission forms: they will become part of an ongoing project to compile a Web-accessible database of information about bestselling 20th-century American literature, which will ultimately become part of Alderman Library's electronic collections. For each assignment, students will also submit a printed list of the sources used in completing the online submission, listed by assignment subsection. More information about grading is available here.

Required Reading:

• Upton Sinclair, The Jungle *
• Margaret Mitchell, Gone With The Wind
• Grace Metalious, Peyton Place
• Joseph Heller, Something Happened
• Alice Walker, The Color Purple
• Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Schedule:

• Unsworth, Section 001
• Meyrich, Section 002
• Albertini, Section 003

Due Dates and Submission Forms:

Update an Assignment or Supplementary Materials

Online Resources

Library Resources

Recommended Reading

Bestsellers
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Maintained by unsworth@uiuc.edu