American Literature

Postmodernism was the leading style in the American literature of the 20th century. However some writers opposed the literature mainstream and wrote in the realistic tradition. As the result the end of the 20th century became the time of the rebirth of realism. John Updike has a significant impact on the revival of realistic tradition as a writer and as an editor of The best American short stories of the century, which includes The Half-Skinned Steer by Annie Proulx.

From postmodernism to realism
Among the literary heritage of John Updike the short novel Separating (1974) is the clear example of realistic prose. Updike described the collapse of marriage on the base of his personal experience, and that is why the characters of the novel are so real. I think its silly. You should either live together or get divorced (Updike 2716).

Annie Proulx is another incredible writer of new realism in the modern American literature. Her short story The Half-Skinned Steer was included to The best American short stories of the century and opened the book Close range Wyoming stories. Some critics write that Wyoming is the central character of all the short stories in the book its miraculous and merciless landscape creates the fitting background for the stories of raw humanity. The Half-Skinned Steer is a tale of inescapable fate that uses an Icelandic legend. For the description of beastly Wyoming nature and rude life on the ranch Proulx uses animal imagery, and her realistic descriptions comes to rude naturalism, especially when she writes about the slaughtered cattle. The descriptions of characters in the novel are also based on the comparisons with animals. Describing womans appearance, the protagonist tells If you admired horses, youd go for her with her arched neck and horsy buttocks. (Proulx, 756) Despite the contradictory elements of naturalism and mysticism in the story, The Half-Skinned Steer is an excellent example of the modern realistic prose.

Conclusion
The end of the 20th century was the start of new wave of American literary realism, and the prose and editing work of John Updike had the significant impact on this.