The novel in English has been one of the most influential (and controversial) of modern literary forms. From the seventeenth century to the publicity surrounding the Booker Prize or the Oprah Book Club, readers and commentators have argued about the value and relevance of prose fiction: are novels good' or bad' for you?; how, why and should we get lost' in a book?; what constitutes a novel in the first place?; does the novel have a future in the electronic age? This course is an introduction to the novel that explores these questions with reference to a selection of texts, ranging from the early nineteenth to the early twenty-first century