Required Reading: Why Our American Classics Matter Now
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- Synopsis
- Delbanco relishes language and teaching. He draws from a deep well of knowledge as he analyzes the work of 11 American authors and ends with an essay on reading for pleasure. He explains how a writer's work reflects his or her experience, efforts to create through language, and personal philosophy and position on the issues of the time. He gives us samples of how Melville attempted to convey pleasure through words with an erotic intensity. He tells us that Steven Crane lived a short, wild, life haunted by the fear that nothing he could write would ever be better than or as good as, "The Red Badge of Courage. He imagines Edith Wharton would be dismayed by another writer's completion of and subsequent publication of one of her unfinished manuscripts. Sympathetically he describes the life of Zora Hurston who collected tales of African Americans during the 1930s told in their antiquated southern dialect. Hurston was at first adored, then died discredited and in poverty, and then her work gained approval again. Dreiser derived the inspiration for some of his female characters from his sisters' experiences. Lincoln's strength of character and conviction are stirringly illustrated but Delbanco sadly concludes that the opportunities Lincoln strove to protect for all Americans are now unattainable so the Lincoln who has inspired the nation for 150 years will fade in importance. This is a volume that will inform the reader about literature and American History. It can be read for pleasure or used as a reference. The complete index is included.
- Copyright:
- 1997
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 218 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780374230074
- Publisher:
- N/A
- Date of Addition:
- 02/14/07
- Copyrighted By:
- Andrew Delbanco
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Literature and Fiction, Language Arts, Politics and Government
- Submitted By:
- Amber W
- Proofread By:
- Lissi
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.