ABSTRACT
Jonathan Coe's career can be divided into two—pre-What a Carve Up! and post-What a Carve Up!. Before his breakthrough with that 1994 novel, Coe had been just one of the many young novelists whose books had garnered occasional critical praise but had made little impact on the reading public. Coe weaves the many threads into sophisticated fictional tapestries with great skill and finesse and an eye for exploring the possibilities of the novel as a literary form. Coe published his first novel, The Accidental Woman, in 1987. The book follows its central character, Maria, over more than a decade as she drifts from school to Oxford and then into a moderately successful career. Coe as a novelist who has refused to rest on his laurels and one who continues to search for new ways to expand the possibilities of comic fiction.
