“Aiming to change how we think about the cult of the individual--that is, about what the hero, the anti-hero, and the heroic can mean in the United States of our day—Halldorson is not afraid to tackle big topics (and they don’t come much bigger than this). This intellectually daring study combines astute historical contextualizing and canny theoretical re-conceptualizing with brilliant close readings of texts by two major American novelists."--Linda Hutcheon, University of Toronto

"This book presents a serious, substantive discussion on Bellow and DeLillo and the subject of heroes. Halldorson offers perhaps the strongest and most provocative reading of DeLillo’s Mao II that I’ve encountered. Her assertions that the hero is always and only built upon a fictional narrative, and that the hero depends on the existence of the non-hero, even though there’s no place for the non-hero in America, are intriguing and convincingly supported."--Curtis Yehnert, Western Oregon University

“Halldorson’s original and innovative construction of a heroics of reading is a valuable contribution to the dramatic revival of the ethical turn in literary and theoretical inquiry. Halldorson is also a masterful reader of community and identity in DeLillo and Bellow, one who is richly attuned to their complex narrative investments.”--Thomas Carmichael, University of Western Ontario