Form and Fable in American Fiction

Combining the disciplines of folklore and literary criticism in his perceptive readings of works by Irving, Hawthorne, Melville, and Mark Twain, Daniel Hoffman demonstrates how these authors transformed materials from both high and popular culture, from their European past and their American present, in works that helped to form our national consciousness. In his new preface, Hoffman describes the evolution of his critical method and suggests the book's value for contemporary readers.

Daniel Hoffman is Poet in Residence and Felix Schelling Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. Amonf his critical studies are Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe, Faulkner's Country Matters, and The Poetry of Stephen Crane. A former Consultant in Poetry of the Library of Congress, he is the author also of eight books of verse, including Brotherly Love and Hang-Gliding rom Helicon.