This course looks at a set of contemporary novels that seem to respond, in different ways, to a sense of interconnectedness between different places. All are global in taking place in more than one country; all play with form, genre, and style; almost all have close relationships to other cultural forms such as cinema and popular music; and many raise questions about authorship, history, and politics. The authors studied in the course will include Roberto Bolaño, David Mitchell, Nicole Krauss, and Haruki Murakami. The course will also include critical work by theorists like Franco Moretti and essays by popular critics such as James Wood. Students will be required to make presentations, conduct research, write regular response papers, and produce a 10-page literary essay as a final requirement.