From the Uncollected Edmund Wilson - Hardcover

Wilson, Edmund

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0821411276 ISBN 13: 9780821411278

Publisher: Ohio University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Many of Wilson's writings have been anthologized. But there is another body of work — over fifty fine essays on aspects of contemporary literature and ideas — that have been scattered in a variety of magazines, including The New Yorker, The New Republic, Vanity Fair, and The Nation. The editors, who recognize Wilson (1895-1972) as one of America's greatest men of letters of the twentieth century, also view his writing as a powerful antidote to late twentieth-century trends and fads and have collected his pieces here in the conviction that Wilson's writing is a permanently important model. Now a new generation of readers — as well as his loyal followers — will have access to this rich literary heritage in a single volume.

The collection is organized chronologically and leads the reader through the journeyman writing at Hill School and Princeton, the essays on literary modernism and contemporary culture written in the 1920s, the socially-focused critiques of the 1930s, and the diverse assortment of book reviews of the late period. Across this full range of moods and literary styles. Wilson is a powerful spokesman for writers and a guardian of imagination and decency for the informed citizen.

About this title

About the Author

Janet Groth is emeritus professor of English at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. She is the author of Edmund Wilson: A Critic for Our Time.

From Library Journal

Editors Groth (Edmund Wilson: A Critic for Our Time, Ohio Univ. Pr., 1989) and Castronovo (Edmund Wilson, Continuum, 1984) have chosen from Wilson's previously uncollected works to present materials illuminating his growth as a literary critic and writer. The works are arranged chronologically, beginning with essays published in the High School Record in 1911 proceeding to works penned for the Nation, New Republic, and the New Yorker in the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties, and winding up with an acceptance speech delivered by Wilson in 1966. Among the subjects of the essays are underrated pleasures (including Edith Wharton, satin breeches, and the human body), overrated experiences (such as afternoon tea, youth, summer, and weddings), and literary critiques, both admiring and scathing. Many libraries already own the source periodicals, but this collection includes a few items that would be difficult to obtain. Recommended for literature collections.?Denise Johnson, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, Ill.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0821411276
• ISBN 13: 9780821411278
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 412
• Editor: Groth Janet