Fictions of the City

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

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2. Introduction — Fictions of the City

   • Matthew Taunton

   Pages 1-6

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3. Haussmann’s Paris and the immeuble

   • Matthew Taunton

   Pages 7-48

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4. The London Suburbs

   • Matthew Taunton

   Pages 49-97

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5. The Parisian Banlieue

   • Matthew Taunton

   Pages 98-138

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6. Council Housing in London

   • Matthew Taunton

   Pages 139-182

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7. Conclusion

   • Matthew Taunton

   Pages 183-186

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8. Back Matter

   Pages 187-204

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Many studies of fictions of city life take the flâneur as the characteristic metropolitan type and streets and plazas as definitive urban spaces. Looking at novels and films set in London and Paris from  L'Assommoir  to Nil By Mouth , this book shows that mass housing is equally central to images of the modern city.

• culture
• fiction
• novel

'...seamlessly combining contemporary debates in urban planning...this book challenges the traditional conformity associated with the prevailing views on mass housing.' - The Times Literary Supplement

'...[an] original and interesting book...this book makes an interesting contribution by combining urban studies with literature and cinema' - International Journal of Housing Policy

MATTHEW TAUNTON has taught at University College London, Birkbeck College, Goldsmiths College, Central St Martins and the Open University, UK. His research interests lie in British and French literature from the nineteenth century to the present, urban studies, media history and film. His journalism appears in the New Statesman and the Times Literary Supplement.

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