Edmund Wilson's America

Synopsis

[From the introduction by the author] This book is a study of Edmund Wilson's views about American life. It is primarily a work of exposition, but I have sought, through analysis and interpretation, to make intelligible a long and varied professional career, to synthesize Wilson's moods and ideas over several generations. But why such a work at all? Wilson has spoken eloquently for himself, and there have already been several biographical and general studies of his work. My assumption is that the breadth and diversity of Wilson's work has made it difficult to obtain a sharp focus on some of the most powerful and enlightening strains of his thought. As the great man of letters of our time (some might say our only man of letters), Wilson was a generalist, an eccentric, and an individualist. He read the books he wanted to read and wrote essays on those that struck his fancy. He wrote substantially on topics as diverse as the Dead Sea Scrolls, sleight-of-hand magic, Canadian politics, Hungarian verbs, Russian poetry, the history of upstate New York, and the literature of the Civil War. Throughout his career he wrote not only literary criticism but also intellectual history, political analysis, travel books, novels, poems, and plays. The result of this splendid diversity has been that Wilson is somewhat elusive. Most frequently he has been the object of study by literary scholars, and a look at the many articles written about him will show that they are devoted almost exclusively to Wilson's literary ideas and opinions, although a fair number have also been concerned with Wilson as a social and political thinker and reformer. Of course these areas do present rich materials for study and investigation, and I have not neglected them. I have tried, however, to narrow the scope of my study so as to locate one major area of Wilson's work within a coherent intellectual framework.

Copyright:

1983

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

254 Pages

ISBN-13:

9780813114941

Publisher:

N/A

Date of Addition:

08/20/07

Copyrighted By:

University Press of Kentucky

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs

Submitted By:

Dr. Kenneth Cross

Proofread By:

Satauna

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.