What is Contemporary Realistic Fiction?
Contemporary Realistic Fiction reflects society as it is now–and that “now” is fluid. What was contemporary realistic fiction twenty years ago is now inching over into historical fiction with each passing year. Our book says that contemporary realistic fiction is a “snapshot in time.” You’ll agree if you ever read any of the original Nancy Drew books for example. In the late 50’s and early 60’s when I was devouring them, I was aware even then that Nancy’s roadster and her chum Ned Nickerson were hopelessly anachronistic–probably very au courant and cool when they were first imagined but dated those many years after. So today’s Contemporary Realistic Fiction does become yesterday’s historical fiction when the style and content of the text no longer resonates with its intended readers. Because these stories are such detailed descriptions of the “contemporary life” of the time in which they were written, they make fascinating time capsules as time passes. Take for example, the breakthro
