Misfit Modernism

Misfit Modernism, Volume 1, is a scholarly work of literary criticism that examines alienation within the twentieth-century novel. Octavio Gonzalez explores the concept of double exile, focusing on characters marginalized from both their home cultures and the dominant majority. This study of modern literature analyzes how specific authors used modernist narratives to express minoritarian experiences of cultural nonbelonging and social exclusion.

The text provides a detailed analysis of key works in American, African American and Black, and LGBTQ literature. Gonzalez evaluates Nella Larsen, Wallace Thurman, Jean Rhys, and Christopher Isherwood, connecting their biographies to the themes of the Harlem Renaissance and expatriate scenes in Paris and Los Angeles. By focusing on 20th century narratives, Misfit Modernism offers new perspectives on race, nationality, and sexual identity through the lens of cultural maladjustment.