Abstract
The main assumption on which The Maximalist Novel is premised is that, despite several illustrious attempts to declare its death, the novel is not only still alive, but remains the most paradigmatic genre of contemporaneity. As David Kurnick has noted, the proliferation of studies in novel theory and criticism during the last decade testifies to its ongoing centrality.1 Ercolino's work, besides confirming this trend, demonstrates also that the novel, particularly the specific subgenre he is analyzing, can help us grasp the complexity and often frightening multiformity of extra-diegetic reality.