The American popular novel after World War II: a study of 25 best sellers, 1947-2000

Solitary men boys in the city: I, the jury, The catcher in the rye

Social women: girls in small towns: Peyton place, To kill a mockingbird

Family business and the American dream: The carpetbaggers, the godfather

Feminism aloft and adrift: Fear of flying, Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Appetites and anxieties: the unfathomed, the undead, the under toad: Jaws, Interview with the vampire, The world according to Garp

Taking care of business: The Bonfire of the vanities, I'll take Manhattan

American trauma: Misery, The things they carried, Beloved

Law and order: Presumed innocent, The silence of the lambs, The firm

Romance in the age of late capitalism: Rabbit at rest, The bridges of Madison County, Five days in Paris

Science and superstition: Contact, Jurassic Park, Angels & demons.