Part of the Blackwell Manifestos series, The State of the Novel offers a lively, yet rigorous investigation into the state and future of the contemporary British novel written by an expert in the field. It evaluates the state of the ‘serious literary’ novel and novel criticism. Prominent treatment is paid to the ‘internationalization’ of the novel in English. It offers a manifesto on contemporary fiction from an expert in this field. Dominic Head is best known for his Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction 1950-2000 : a key textbook used in contemporary fiction courses. It establishes the shared interests of contemporary theorists of the novel, cultural commentators, and novel consumers. It is an ideal supplementary text for students and faculty interested in the novel and contemporary fiction.