In this work, Alan McCluskey explores materialism, in its many conceptual forms, in the contemporary cosmopolitan novel. The author applies a 'cosmopolitan materialist' lens to the contemporary novels of Caryl Phillips, J. M. Coetzee, and Philip Roth, three contemporary authors who each hail from different parts of the world and produce highly dissimilar novels. His analysis illuminates stylistic qualities of contemporary literature that might otherwise remain unseen or unappreciated. Through the framework of cosmopolitanism, he also interprets and gains insight into the aesthetic, cultural, and socio-political implications of human life in an increasingly globalizing and interconnected context.
