Unemployment in British and American Literature since the 1930s

Unemployment in British and American Literature since the 1930s explores the literary history of unemployment-from the Great Depression to today-arguing that the feelings culturally associated with unemployment shape its political use. The literature analyzed in the book spans a wide array of contexts and formats: from Depression-era Britain, to the American Rust Belt. Through readings of British and American novels and ethnographies by Walter Greenwood, John Steinbeck, George Orwell, Ann Petry, Richard Wright, Alan Sillitoe, James Kelman, Sarah Smarsh, Douglas Stuart, and others, the book interrogates the feel of unemployment and connects it to changing economic conditions, cultural representations, and political struggles.