A Future for Criticism

"The unbuttoned directness of this little book is invigorating." - Jean E. Howard (Shakespeare Studies, 2013)

"A Future for Criticism issues a challenge to critics that really amounts to having the courage of our convictions and sticking to what we're good at, resisting the encroachments of history and psychology, and having 'confidence in the independent capabilities of criticism' (76) ... Belsey's book is a positive pleasure to read." (Transnational Literature, November 2011)

"Laudably eschewing jargon, she draws up a very readable manifesto for change in critical practice which would require critics to be more reflective about the pleasure of reading fiction and attending plays . . . nevertheless, the front she has chosen on which to examine a new direction for literary and/or cultural criticism is timely and compelling, and her argument made with verve and originality." (Suite101.com, 4 April 2011)

"A pleasure to read from start to finish. This book will touch even sedated nerves, and bring energy and cheer to anyone who cares about reading, and about thinking about reading or anything else."
—Michael Wood, Princeton University

"This is a hugely appealing book. It is at once glitteringly clear and intellectually adventurous, and the whole thing hums with a sociable impulse of delight."
—Steven Connor, Birkbeck College, London

"A terrific book–incisive and challenging, accessible and lucid. It should make a stir."
—Coppélia Kahn, Brown University

"Belsey is uniquely qualified both to reexamine the problems confronting a post-humanist cultural criticism and to reformulate the intellectual and political responsibilities they entail. This book does not disappoint expectations. It is a highly readable, utterly compelling polemic, and I cannot recommend it enough."
—Matthew Beaumont, University College, London