In firm agreement with Henry Steele Commager's observation that "Henry Adams illuminates, better than any of his contemporaries," the course of American history, William Wasserstrom appraises the force of Adams's mind in styling, dramatizing, and embodying a postmodern myth of disintegration and chaos. Focusing on Adams and analyzing literature that reviews the myth of disin tegration, Wasserstrom records the de cline of the doctrine of perfectability as a critical feature of national sensibility. This he sees as a central ...
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In firm agreement with Henry Steele Commager's observation that "Henry Adams illuminates, better than any of his contemporaries," the course of American history, William Wasserstrom appraises the force of Adams's mind in styling, dramatizing, and embodying a postmodern myth of disintegration and chaos. Focusing on Adams and analyzing literature that reviews the myth of disin tegration, Wasserstrom records the de cline of the doctrine of perfectability as a critical feature of national sensibility. This he sees as a central trait shared by generations of writers who character istically associated their private aspira tions as artists with the American dream. Through literary and cultural history he inquires into the character of a society whose leading writers identify their personal fates with the progress of civilization in the United States. Wasserstrom explores the fiction of Irving, Cooper, Hawthorne, Stowe, Howells, Henry James, William James, Stephen Crane, Henry Adams, Eugene O'Neill, D. H. Lawrence, Stein, Fitz gerald, William Carlos Williams, and Kenneth Burke.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. No Dust Jacket Issued. Very good hardcover copy, from a personal collection (NOT ex-library). Binding tight and sturdy; text clean; corners sharp. No dust jacket, as issued. Exterior looks very nice. Ships from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
