The Complicit Text: Failures of Witnessing in Postwar Fiction identifies the causes of complicity in the face of unfolding atrocities by examining the works of Albert Camus, Milan Kunera, Kazuo Ishiguro, W. G. Sebald, Thomas Pynchon, and Margaret Atwood. Ivan Stacy argues that complicity often stems from narrative failures to bear witness to wrongdoing. However, literary fiction, he contends, can at once embody and examine forms of complicity on three different levels: as a theme within literary texts, as a narrative form, and also as it implicates readers themselves through empathetic engagement with the text. Furthermore, Stacy questions what forms of non-complicit action are possible and explores the potential for productive forms of compromise. Stacy discusses both individual dilemmas of complicity in the shadow of World War II and collective complicity in the context of contemporary concerns, such as the hegemony of neoliberalism and the climate emergency.

The Wire (2002-2008) was a searing exploration of post-9/11 America. It detailed the struggles of those living in America's disintegrating industrial heartlands and drug-ravaged neighborhoods, as well as those striving against the odds in its schools, hospitals and legal system. In the shadow of 9/11, while all eyes were turned towards Afghanistan and Iraq, The Wire was one of the few attempts to show the realities of America's dark corners. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have been evoked in discussions of The Wire, its compelling storylines and memorable cast of characters creating a level of detail previously unseen in television series. However, while the show's scope and ambition garnered critical praise and a loyal following, a discussion of its political aspects, and in particular of the commentary it provided on Bush-era America, is overdue. The essays in this book examine The Wire in these terms, encompassing the unforseen consequences of the War on Drugs, the division of America's cities, the surveillance state, and the meaning of citizenship. In sum, this book provides new insights into how The Wire shone a light on the hidden realities of post-9/11 America.