Description: American Lit Remixed argues that literary texts use music to combat the artifice and alienation of the digital age. Works by well known authors and less familiar ones draw from mixtapes, remixes, vinyl records, and cassettes to reinvent identity and community, as well as literary form.
Review Quotes:
"In American Lit Remixed, music talks and fiction sings. Melissa Strong daringly bridges the gap between sound and letters by turning a sharp eye (and ear) to the dialogue between rock 'n roll and contemporary fiction, tracing out a multi-sensory and uniquely American narrative that upends cultural hierarchies and challenges some of our most sacred myths about rock and literature." --Nate Sloan, University of Southern California
"American Lit Remixed is an unexpected and refreshing analysis of literary works as mixtapes. Melissa Strong examines the shaping and reshaping that literature and music have performed on each other with their clear reliance on technological innovation. Approached as a literary mixtape in its own right, this book provides a focused analysis of selected creative writing pieces that share a clear lineage with Rock music and its ongoing influence across our sprawling musical landscape." --Eduardo Navas, Pennsylvania State University