Understanding Will Self
M. Hunter Hayes
Understanding Will Self introduces readers to the satire and expressive ingenuity of a
British writer who has garnered an array of awards since the 1991 publication of his
first short story collection, The Quantity Theory of Insanity. In this guide to the wellreceived but largely unstudied writer, M. Hunter Hayes examines the key themes,
narrative strategies, and cultural commentaries that characterize Self ’s work. Through
close textual analyses, Hayes guides readers through the alternative universe of Self ’s
writing and maps the interplay between his forays into journalism and fiction.
Marked by their combination of seemingly improbable events and quotidian
details, Self ’s novels, novellas, and short stories examine contemporary English life
through a mode of writing that he has aptly termed “dirty magical realism.” Hayes
shows how recurring characters have evolved through successive works and in relation to their environments. He places Self ’s writing within its historical and critical
contexts and uses each chapter to address either a single work or a group of closely
connected works. Hayes’s analyses range from well-regarded novels to notable yet uncollected short stories and draw upon secondary critical texts to reassess Self ’s critical
standing.
Understanding Contemporary British Literature
Matthew J. Bruccoli, series editor
February 2007, 232 pages
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M. Hunter Hayes teaches English at
Texas A&M University–Commerce,
where he specializes in twentiethcentury and contemporary British
literature. He has published several
articles on contemporary British
fiction and poetry.
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