Jonathan Coe, born in 1961, achieved high national and international visibility with the 1994 publication of

his fourth novel. Following three early novels, all formally interesting but somehow slighter works that received little attention from reviewers and sold poorly,

(later published in the US as

) marked a major advance—capacious (over 500 pages, compared to the 640 total pages of his first three titles), complex, and funny. Many characters are involved in multiple brilliantly interconnected plot lines; there is a new intertextual use of popular culture, especially film (the title comes from a 1961 horror comedy); and it is savage in its exposé of the rot in British politics and culture, especially under Thatcherism. Dominic…

1726 words

Citation: Moseley, Merritt. "The Closed Circle". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 March 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20392, accessed 26 March 2025.]