Professor Stephen Burn

Professor of Contemporary American Literature (English Literature)

telephone: 01413307511
email: Stephen.Burn@glasgow.ac.uk

School of Critical Studies

Import to contacts

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7315-687X

Research interests

Research Interests:

Contemporary American and British Fiction
Neuroscience, Consciousness, and the Novel
Encyclopedic Novels
Postmodernism and its Legacy
Experimental Fiction

Biography:

Stephen J. Burn joined the School of Critical Studies in 2013, after spending nearly a decade at Northern Michigan University, where he was Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature. He has published widely on contemporary fiction, writing both academic books and articles, and regularly reviewing fiction for the New York Times Book Review and the Times Literary Supplement. He is currently preparing an edition of David Foster Wallace’s letters, and is writing a monograph about the American novel in the age of neuroscience. He is guest editor for a forthcoming special issue of Modern Fiction Studies devoted to Neuroscience and Modern Fiction, while—with Bryan Cheyette and Peter Boxall—he edits Bloomsbury’s series New Horizons for Contemporary Fiction.

Much of Burn’s research concentrates upon the generation of American writers who came of age during (and to some extent came to dispute) postmodernism’s imperial reign. He wrote the first books devoted to David Foster Wallace (David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest: A Reader’s Guide [2003, revised edition 2012]) and Jonathan Franzen (Jonathan Franzen at the End of Postmodernism [2009]), while he also edited Intersections: Essays on Richard Powers (2008), Conversations with David Foster Wallace (2012), and (with Marshall Boswell) A Companion to David Foster Wallace Studies (2013). His books and reviews have been translated into Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and he wrote the essay that opened the New York Times Book Review’s 2011 feature on “Why Criticism Matters.” He has given keynote lectures at conferences in America, Belgium, and England.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

Number of items: 91.

2024

Burn, S. (2024) Transatlantic fictions. In: Cambridge Companion to British Postmodernism. Cambridge University Press. (Accepted for Publication)

2022

O'Donnell, P., Burn, S. J. and Larkin, L. (Eds.) (2022) Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction: 1980-2020. Wiley-Blackwell: Hoboken, N.J. ISBN 9781119431718

2021

Burn, S. J. (2021) The gender of the neuronovel: Joyce Carol Oates and the double brain. European Journal of American Studies, 16(4), (doi: 10.4000/ejas.17459)

2019

Burn, S. J. and Holland, M. K. (Eds.) (2019) Approaches to Teaching the Works of David Foster Wallace. Modern Languages Association: New York. ISBN 9781603294645

Burn, S. J. (2019) Last words: teaching The Pale King. In: Burn, S. J. and Holland, M. K. (eds.) Approaches to Teaching the Works of David Foster Wallace. Modern Languages Association: New York, pp. 33-41. ISBN 9781603294645

Burn, S. J. (2019) Family. In: O'Gorman, D. and Eaglestone, R. (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction. Series: Routledge Companions to Literature Series. Routledge: London, pp. 147-158. ISBN 9780415716048

2018

Burn, S. J. (2018) The neuronovel. In: Smith, R. G. (ed.) American Literature in Transition: 2000-2010. Series: American literature in transition. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 165-178. ISBN 9781107149298 (doi: 10.1017/9781316569290.012)

2017

Burn, S. J. (2017) Encyclopedic fictions. In: Burn, S. J. (ed.) American Literature in Transition: 1990-2000. Series: American literature in transition. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 107-123. ISBN 9781107136014 (doi: 10.1017/9781316477069.008)

Burn, S. J. (Ed.) (2017) American Literature in Transition: 1990-2000. Series: American literature in transition. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9781107136014

2016

Burn, S. (2016) Institutions of Scale. American Book Review, p. 14. (doi: 10.1353/abr.2016.0008)

Burn, S. (2016) The end: an introduction to Barth's late style. In: Harris, C. B. and Dean, G. (eds.) John Barth: A Body of Words. Dalkey Archive Press: Victoria, pp. 177-200. ISBN 9781564788696

Burn, S. (2016) Second-generation postmoderns. In: McHale, B. and Platt, L. (eds.) The Cambridge History of Postmodern Literature. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 450-464. ISBN 9781107140271

2015

Burn, S. J. (2015) The Postmodern Condition: William H. Gass’s ‘Eyes’ and John Barth’s ‘Collected Stories’. New York Times Book Review, p. 32. [Book Review]

Burn, S. J. (2015) Introduction to the David Foster Wallace special section of the Lettera Matematica International Edition. Lettera Matematica, 3(4), pp. 241-243. (doi: 10.1007/s40329-015-0108-y)

Burn, S. (2015) Nonlinear, discontinuous: collage-Like: an assemblage: the architecture of David Markson's last works. Scofield, 1(1), pp. 32-36.

Burn, S. J. (2015) El Mundo Desdo el otro Lado de la Soledad Residencial. In: Dara, E. and Amores, J. L. (eds.) El Cuaderno Perdido. Series: Pálido fuego (14). Editorial Pálido Fuego: Málaga, pp. 5-13. ISBN 9788494365515

Burn, S. J. (2015) Neuroscience and modern fiction. Modern Fiction Studies, 61(2), pp. 209-225. (doi: 10.1353/mfs.2015.0018)

2014

Burn, S. J. (2014) Finisterre (Review of Orfeo, by Richard Powers). American Book Review, 35(4), p. 9. (doi: 10.1353/abr.2014.0064)[Book Review]

Burn, S. (2014) Apocalypse again: ‘The Brunist Day of Wrath,’ by Robert Coover. New York Times Book Review, BR24. [Book Review]

Burn, S. (2014) Toward a general theory of vision in Wallace’s fiction. English Studies, 95(1), pp. 85-93. (doi: 10.1080/0013838X.2013.857858)

2013

Burn, S.J. (2013) 'Difficulty factor' Review of: J. McElroy, Cannonball. Times Literary Supplement, p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2013) Mapping the syndrome novel. In: Lustig, T.J. and Peacock, J. (eds.) Diseases and Disorders in Contemporary Fiction: The Syndrome Syndrome. Series: Routledge studies in contemporary literature, 10. Routledge: New York, NY, USA, pp. 35-52. ISBN 9780415507400

Burn, S.J. (2013) 'Webs of nerves pulsing and firing': infinite jest and the science of mind. In: Burn, S.J. and Boswell, M. (eds.) A Companion to David Foster Wallace Studies. Series: American literature readings in the 21st century. Palgrave Macmillan: New York, NY, USA, pp. 59-85. ISBN 9780230338111

Burn, S.J. and Boswell, M. (2013) A Companion to David Foster Wallace Studies. Series: American literature readings in the 21st century. Palgrave: New York, NY, USA. ISBN 9780230338111

Wallace, D. F. (2013) Un Antidoto Contro la Solitudine: Interviste e Conversazioni. Minimum Fax: Rome. ISBN 9788875215187

2012

Burn, S.J. (2012) 'All the way back': Review of: B. Lerner, Leaving the Atocha Station. Times Literary Supplement, p. 20. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2012) Fiction in review. Yale Review, 100(3), pp. 181-188. (doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9736.2012.00826.x)[Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2012) 'Suspended animation': Review of: T. McCarthy, Men in Space. New York Times Book Review, p. 15. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (Ed.) (2012) Conversations With David Foster Wallace. Series: Literary conversations series. University Press of Mississippi: Jackson, MS, USA. ISBN 9781617032264

Burn, S.J. (2012) David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest: A Reader’s Guide. Continuum: London, UK. ISBN 9781441157072

Burn, S.J. (2012) Lee Siegel. In: Parini, J. (ed.) American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Series: University of Minnesota pamphlets on American writers. Scribner-Gale: New York, NY, USA, pp. 255-269. ISBN 9781414480244

Burn, S.J. (2012) 'A paradigm for the life of consciousness': closing time in 'the pale king'. Studies in the Novel, 44(4), pp. 371-388.

Burn, S.J. (2012) 'Putting the mind back into nature: the American novel and the science of mind'. In: Sandy, M. (ed.) Romantic Presences in the Twentieth-Century. Series: The nineteenth-century series. Ashgate: Aldershot, UK, pp. 191-207. ISBN 9780754669920

Burn, S.J. (2012) Reading the multiple drafts novel. Modern Fiction Studies, 58(3), pp. 436-458. (doi: 10.1353/mfs.2012.0059)

2011

Burn, S.J. (2011) 'The machine in the ghost': Review of; D.F. Wallace, The Pale King. American Book Review, 32(5), p. 16. (doi: 10.1353/abr.2011.0121)[Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2011) 'Thinking and not thinking': Review of: L. Tillman, Someday This Will Be Funny. Times Literary Supplement, p. 21.

Burn, S.J. (2011) 'The art of reflection': Review of: G. Dyer, Otherwise Known as the Human Condition. New York Times Book Review, p. 17. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2011) Review of: D. Hering, Consider David Foster Wallace. Modernism/Modernity, 18(2), pp. 465-468. (doi: 10.1353/mod.2011.0044)[Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2011) Why criticism matters: beyond the critic as cultural arbiter. New York Times Book Review, p. 9. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2011) David Foster Wallace. In: Shaffer, B.W., O'Donnell, P. and Ball, J.C. (eds.) The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction. Series: The Wiley-Blackwell encyclopedia of literature. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, UK. ISBN 9781405192446

Burn, S.J. (2011) 'A female heart of darkness': Review of: A. Patchett, State of Wonder. Guardian, p. 10. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2011) 'The raw and the cooked': Review of: P. Fox, News from the World. Bookforum, p. 23. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2011) Review of: C. Harbach, The Art of Fielding. Bookforum, p. 50.

Burn, S.J. (2011) 'River of consciousness': Review of: M, Énard, Zone. New York Times Book Review, p. 16. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2011) 'Topological fiction': Review of: J. McElroy, Night Soul and Other Stories. New York Times Book Review, p. 9. [Book Review]

2010

Burn, S.J. (2010) 'Fictions of the visual cortex': Review of: D. DeLillo, Point Omega. American Book Review, 31(6), p. 8. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2010) Review of: R. Powers, Generosity: An Enhancement. Yale Review, 98(4), pp. 148-156. (doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9736.2010.00680.x)[Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2010) The art of fiction 207: Jonathan Franzen. Paris Review, 195, pp. 38-79.

Burn, S.J. (2010) Jonathan Franzen. In: Parini, J. (ed.) American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Charles Scribner's Sons: Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 83-97. ISBN 9781414438924

Burn, S.J. (2010) 'Local colour': Review of: J. Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad. Times Literary Supplement, p. 20. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2010) 'Tribe of one': Review of: J. Cohen, Witz. New York Times Book Review, p. 27. [Book Review]

2009

Burn, S.J. (2009) After Gaddis: data storage and the novel. In: Alberts, C., Leise, C. and Vanwesenbeeck, B. (eds.) William Gaddis. McFarland & Co.: Jefferson, NC, USA, pp. 160-170. ISBN 9780786443093

Burn, S.J. (2009) Don DeLillo's Great Jones Street and the science of mind. Modern Fiction Studies, 55(2), pp. 349-368. (doi: 10.1353/mfs.0.1608)

Burn, S.J. (2009) 'Economies of the self': Review of E. Dara, The Easy Chain. American Book Review, 30(4), p. 18. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2009) 'Festivals of shame': Review of W. Tower, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. Times Literary Supplement, p. 20. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2009) 'Friendly fire': Review of J.A. Phillips, Lark and Termite. Times Literary Supplement, p. 21. [Book Review]

2008

Burn, S.J. and Dempsey, P. eds. (2008) Intersections: Essays on Richard Powers. Series: Dalkey archive scholarly series. Dalkey Archive Press: Champaign, IL, USA. ISBN 9781564785084

Burn, S.J. (2008) 'Call me ponce': Review of: L. Siegel, Love and the Incredibly Old Man. Times Literary Supplement, p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2008) The end of postmodernism: American fiction at the millennium. In: Prosser, J. (ed.) American Fiction Of The 1990s: Reflections Of History and Culture. Routledge: Abingdon, UK, pp. 220-234. ISBN 9780415435666

Burn, S.J. (2008) An interview with Richard Powers. Contemporary Literature, 49(2), pp. 163-179. (doi: 10.1353/cli.0.0022)

Burn, S.J. (2008) Jonathan Franzen at the End of Postmodernism. Series: Continuum literary studies series. Continuum: London, UK. ISBN 9781847062482

Burn, S.J. (2008) 'Much adieu': Review of: J. Barth, The Development. Times Literary Supplement, p. 20. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2008) Richard Powers’s ghosts. In: Burns, S.J. and Dempsey, P. (eds.) Intersections: Essays On Richard Powers. Series: Dalkey archive scholarly series. Dalkey Archive Press: Champaign, IL, USA, pp. 105-116. ISBN 9781564785084

2007

Burn, S.J. (2007) 'The cinematic real': Review of: S. Erickson, Zeroville. Times Literary Supplement, p. 20. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2007) The collapse of everything: William Gaddis and the encyclopedic novel. In: Tabbi, J. and Shavers, R. (eds.) Paper Empire: William Gaddis and the World Eystem. University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, AL, USA, pp. 46-62. ISBN 9780817354060

Burn, S.J. (2007) 'One final list': Review of: D. Markson, Epitaph for a Tramp, Epitaph for a Dead Beat and The Last Novel. Times Literary Supplement, p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2007) Sherman Alexie, the Lone Ranger and Tonto fistfight in heaven. In: McClinton-Temple, J. and Velie, A.R. (eds.) Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature. Series: Facts on file library of American literature. Facts on File: New York, NY, USA, pp. 212-213. ISBN 9780816056569

Burn, S.J. (2007) 'Some weird bunch of anti-rebels': Review of: D. Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest. Times Literary Supplement, p. 21. [Book Review]

2006

Burn, S.J. (2006) 'Parasitic fiction': Review of; T. LeClair, The Liquidators. American Book Review, 28(1), p. 2. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2006) 'Metamorphosis': Review of; L. Siegel, Who Wrote the Book of Love? American Book Review, 27(2), p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2006) 'Beyond the billboard': Review of: G. Saunders, The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, and In Persuasion Nation. Times Literary Supplement, p. 21. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2006) Review of: J. Green, Late Postmodernism: American Fiction at the Millennium. Modern Fiction Studies, 52(1), pp. 231-234. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2006) 'Taking the brisket': Review of: J. Franzen, The Discomfort Zone. Times Literary Supplement, p. 26. [Book Review]

2005

Burn, S.J. (2005) 'Signs of the times': Review of: S. Erickson, of Our Ecstatic Days. American Book Review, 26(6), p. 17. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2005) 'Experiments in blindness': Review of: P. Theroux, Blinding Light. Times Literary Supplement, p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2005) 'On with the story': Review of: J. Barth, The Book of Ten Nights and a Night. Times Literary Supplement, p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2005) William Gaddis. In: Lawlor, W. (ed.) Beat Culture: Icons, Lifestyles, and Impact. ABC-CLIO: Santa Barbara, CA, USA, p. 115. ISBN 9781851094004

2004

Burn, S.J. (2004) 'Narratives of information': Review of: D. Markson, Vanishing Point. American Book Review, 26(1), p. 25. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2004) 'Tested to destruction': Review of: D. Foster Wallace, Oblivion. Times Literary Supplement, p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2004) 'Infinite test': Review of: D. Foster, Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity. American Book Review, 25(4), p. 16. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2004) 'Software as God': Review of: M. Costello, Big If. Times Literary Supplement, p. 22. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2004) 'Famously obscure': Review of: W. Gaddis, The Recognitions, JR and Carpenter’s Gothic. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 21-22. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2004) Machine-language of the muscles: reading, sport, and the self in infinite jest. In: Cocchiarale, M. and Emmert, S.D. (eds.) Upon Further Review: Essays on American Sports Literature. Praeger: Westport, CT, USA, pp. 41-50. ISBN 9780275980504

Burn, S.J. (2004) Review of: S. Nalbantian, Memory in Literature: From Rousseau to Neuroscience. James Joyce Quarterly, 41(3), pp. 579-582. [Book Review]

2003

Burn, S.J. (2003) 'Postmodern loneliness': Review of: J. Franzen, How to Be Alone. American Book Review, 24(5), p. 6. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2003) 'Seismology and the city.': Review of: J. Franzen, The Twenty-Seventh City and Strong Motion. Times Literary Supplement, p. 24. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2003) 'The scientist and the singer': Review of: R. Powers, The Time of Our Singing. Times Literary Supplement, p. 23. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2003) 'A tune on the player piano': Review of: W. Gaddis, Agapē Agape. Times Literary Supplement, p. 19. [Book Review]

Burn, S.J. (2003) David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest: A Reader’s Guide. Series: Continuum contemporaries. Continuum: New York, NY, USA. ISBN 9780826414779

Burn, S.J. (2003) The life and works of Don DeLillo. Literary Encyclopedia,

Burn, S.J. (2003) Review of: H. Sword, Ghostwriting Modernism. James Joyce Quarterly, 40, pp. 611-613. [Book Review]

This list was generated on Wed Nov 20 17:40:03 2024 GMT.

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