This study re-examines the twentieth-century novel as a form shaped by its problematic, often scandalous relation to the public sphere. Discussing ten texts against the challenges of their milieus, it considers twentieth-century fiction as a tradition of transgression, perennially caught between license and licentiousness, erudition and sedition.

Fresh assessment of key twentieth-century novels (many famous for being the subject of censorship trials or other controversies) that examines their relationship to discourses of scandal and notoriety 2 Offers a significant contribution to ways in which twentieth-century fiction is thought about and taught - key to current debates on contemporary writing 3 Written with the undergraduate (and postgraduate) student of contemporary literature in mind - accessible structure, in-depth case studies of key texts 4 Popular and well-known texts/writers discussed, including On The Road , The Satanic Verses , Lady Chatterley's Lover and Beloved - scandals which readers of all levels will be interested in finding out more about 5 Rethinks the role and significance of the reading of fiction in the twentieth century

Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: The Twentieth-Century Novel in the Public Sphere; J.Morrison & S.Watkins The 'nameless shamelessness' of Ulysses : Libel and the Law of Literature; S.Latham 'The aristocracy of intellect': Inversion and Inheritance in Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness ; S.Watkins The Law and the Profits: The Case of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover ; F.Becket 'You Reckon Folks Really Act Like That?': Horror Films and the Work of Popular Culture in Richard Wright's Native Son ; J.Smethurst Scandalous for Being Scandalous: 'monstrous huge fuck[s]' and 'slambanging big sodomies' in Jack Kerouac's On the Road ; R.J. Ellis Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People : The Novel and the Public Sphere; J.Morrison 'Precious Gift/Piece of Shit': Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and the Revenge of History; S.Sharma Toni Morrison's Beloved : The Scandal That Disturbed Domestic Tranquility; M.Mobley Helen Darville, The Hand that Signed the Paper : Who is'Helen Demidenko'?; S.Vice J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace : Reading Race/Reading Scandal; K.Easton Index Afterword; J.Morrison & S.Watkins Index