(2008) is Martin Amis’s most controversial book. It is the latest of his engagements with large modern traumas: the first, in the short-story collection
Einstein’s Monsters(1987), was with the threat of nuclear weapons; the second, in the novel
Time’s Arrow(1991), with the Shoah; the third, in the nonfictional
Koba the Dread(2002), with Stalinism; and the fourth, in
The Second Plane, with “September 11” – Amis prefers this formulation to “9/11” – and with what he calls “Islamism”. The book consists of fourteen pieces, twelve essays and reviews and two short stories, presented in the chronological order of composition. They were originally published in national newspapers or magazines: six in the
Times, four in the
Guardian…
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Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Second Plane: September 11, 2001-2007". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 January 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23520, accessed 27 November 2024.]