Moral Agents: Eight Twentieth-Century American Writers
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.36 (987 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1590177762 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-10-25 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Boy's Club Charlus Edward Mendelson gathers eight previously published essays on American cultural figures of the twentieth century and revises them for the present publication. This appears to be their chief qualification for inclusion. Only some subjects could claim Public Intellectual status, although all could claim either fame and/or influence. However, many other figures with those qualifications might have been included (Lillian Hellman, Susan Sontag, Mary McCarthy, Hannah Arendt . Perceptive Criticism, but not Always the Focus Promised in the Title. I'm torn between four and five stars on this one. Edward Mendelson is best known as an Auden scholar. He has edited the major collections of Auden's poetry and written a two-volume biography, His knowledge and love of Auden's work shows in the essay in this collection, which argues persuasively that Auden's religious beliefs were centered on a notion of agape, of spirituality as a commitment to love others as yourself. But this collection of essays is uneven in its foc. "Sort of good." according to B. Wolinsky. I’m not a fan of Saul Bellow, but this book is probably the best study of the writer that I’ve read so far. In fact, Edward Mandelson’s portrait of him is greater than anything Bellow ever wrote himself. He portrays Bellow as maturing from a liberal parent to a seriously non-liberal old patriarch, browbeating his kids. Strange, how he went from practicing what he preached to being one of the mean old cranks he’d write about in his books.Mandelso
Mulligan, CHOICEPraise for Edward Mendelson's The Things That Matter:"Filled with sage insights into literature and life…A joy to read." —The Wall Street Journal"Thrilling…Mendelson’s readings will send you hungrily to these classics." —Newsday"Elegant…Enlightening…Mendelson is an ideal companion…The book reminds us that criticism of the sort that Mendelson practices is one of the things that matter." —Los
Any important writer, in Mendelson’s view, writes in response to an idea of the good life that is inseparable from the life the writer lives. Fusing biography and criticism and based on extensive new research, Moral Agents presents challenging new portraits of eight writers—novelists, critics, and poets—who transformed American literature in the turbulent twentieth century. Early in his career, Auden was tempted to don the mantle of the poet as prophet, but after his move from England to A
Wells, and has written for The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, the London Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, and many other publications.. H. He has edited novels by Arnold Bennett, Thomas Hardy, George Meredith, Anthony Trollope, and H. His books include The Things That Matter