In the American grain (Peregrine books) - Softcover

William Carlos Williams

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140550925 ISBN 13: 9780140550924

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1971

Synopsis

Prose essays ranging in theme from Erik the Red and Christopher Columbus to Abraham Lincoln about what it means to be an American.William Carlos Williams was not a historian, but he was fascinated by the texture of American history. He found in the fabric of familiar episodes new shades of meaning, new configurations of character and intent. He brought a poetic imagination to the task of reconstructing a live tradition for Americans, and the result is a genuinely consistent and integrated expression of the American inheritance. Williams did not invent the native conscience, but he rediscovered it, often in the more remote gestures of history, and has here given it enduring stature in prose."In the American Grain is a fundamental book, essential if one proposes to come to terms with American literature ."-- Times Literary Supplement

About this title

About the Author

William Carlos Williams (1883–1963), author of Paterson and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Pictures from Brueghel, is widely considered one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. Also a short-story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator, he helped in a big way to establish modernism in America.

Rick Moody is the award-winning author of Black Veil, Demonology, The Diviners, Garden State, The Ice Storm, Purple America, and Right Livelihoods.

Review

His treatment is free and episodic, beginning with the Vikings and ending with Abraham Lincoln. (Daniel J. Boorstin, author of The Discoverers) "

It is ever more apparent that Williams is this century s major American poet. (The Chicago Tribune) "

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1971
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140550925
• ISBN 13: 9780140550924
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 235