Critics have been aware for years that such literary works as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, William Faulkner's Go Down, Moses and James Joyce's Dubliners do not fit comfortably into established genres. By proposing the name composite novel and a supportive, comprehensive theory of genre for these works, Maggie Dunn and Ann Morris break new critical ground. In tracing the development of this literary genre in the 19th and 20th centuries throughout the world, the authors offer not only a new way to understand these classics, but also a useful approach to the best contemporary fiction such as N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain and Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate.