The Supreme Fictions of John Banville

This work offers a critical commentary on the range of John Banville's fiction, including the plays, and views that fiction in the contexts of contemporary critical theory, particularly those of postmodernism and feminism. It argues that Banville's work is deeply influenced by romantic and modernist mythologies of the creative imagination, especially those expressed by Coleridge and Wallace Stevens. Banville's interest in systems of knowledge and forms of representation is a major issue in the study, and McMinn investigates his use of paintings as metaphors. The introduction surveys Banville's relation to Irish, European and American writing, and is followed by a close textual analysis of each of Banville's texts, from "Long Lankin" to "The Untouchable". The bibliography reflects the international character and appeal of Banville's achievement.