Martin Amis, The Second Plane: September 11, 2001-2007

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The Second Plane: September 11: 2001-2007

(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

2340 words

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.]

23520 The Second Plane: September 11, 2001-2007 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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