Stepping Off the Edge

Anne McConnell is a Professor in the English Department at West Virginia State University. She specializes in contemporary literature and critical theory from France, Latin America, and the United States. She published Approaching Disappearance with Dalkey Archive Press in 2013, focusing on the work of Maurice Blanchot. She currently teaches world literature, critical theory, and writing at West Virginia State University.

• INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1: LOCATING, RELOCATING, DISLOCATING THE EDGE OF THE TEXTAnne Carson’s Autobiography of RedValeria Luiselli’s The Story of My TeethCHAPTER 2: TANGIBLE GHOSTS: WRITING AFTER LIFEPaul Auster’s “Portrait of an Invisible Man”Anne Carson’s NoxMaggie Nelson’s Jane: A MurderCHAPTER 3: SELF-PORTRAIT FROM THE OUTSIDEMarie NDiaye’s Self-Portrait in GreenCésar Aira’s How I Became a NunMarie Redonnet’s Candy StoryCHAPTER 4: WRITING THE END OF RELATIONMarguerite Duras’s The Malady of DeathMaggie Nelson’s BluetsLydia Davis’s The End of the StoryCHAPTER 5: APPROACHING THE END OF THE WORLDCésar Aira’s ShantytownPaul Auster’s The Country of Last Things