Plot, character, setting and theme, according to John Hawkes, perhaps the first post-World War II antirealist, constitute the true enemies of the novel. modern antirealist finds user friendly, in a pattern search through the works of some of today's most imaginative writers - Barth, Barthelme, Coover, Gass, Pynchon and Vonnegut, to name only a few - from some who have made it to the top of the bestseller lists to other barely known outside academic circles. Framing the study are an introduction by James W. Tuttleton, grouding the contemporary works in the context of early American writings by such countertraditionalists as Irving, Poe, Howells and Twain, and an interview in which the editor challenges the author as devil's advocate fro the realists, thrus enriching both points of view.