The essays included in this collection offer an overview of literary works, films, TV series, and visual art which reflect the current (post-)millennial fascination with theorizing ends and beginnings. The contributions intend to x-ray the most crucial aspects of contemporary North-American literature and culture. Addressing a variety of media, the authors of the essays gathered in the book wonder at the ongoing spectacle of exhaustion and regeneration which is playing itself out on the American stage.