ABSTRACT
The danger of saying anything about the contemporary is that the definition of “contemporary” changes so fast that obsolescence of statement is virtually automatic. McCAFFERY’s bibliography of postmodern fiction, while an admirable enterprise, was radically out-of-date even at the moment of its publication, although, with its many valuable overview articles and biographical dictionary (which runs postmodern fictionists alongside commentators on postmodernism), it will remain a key resource. It is probable that the present attempt to summarise current critical ventures is also likely to be overtaken by events. Things are rendered even more provisional by the lack of consensus about postmodernism in general, and the fact that the term itself has almost become a sign without signification.
