Reading America - Hardcover

Denis Donoghue is the author of many books on literature, including Connoisseurs of Chaos, Emily Dickinson, The Ordinary Universe, The Sovereign Ghost, and We Irish.

Donoghue focuses on key figures in American literature from Emerson to John Ashbery. He does not offer a comprehensive study, however. Instead, he has collected ten rather substantial essays and 17 shorter reviews occasioned by the publication of a biography, a collection of letters, a critical study, or a new book of poems. He makes no attempt to fit these diverse pieces into a theory, thesis, or ideological scheme. These fine pieces on Emerson and Thoreau, Dickinson, Stevens, Trilling, Kenneth Burke, Syvia Plath, and many more are all distinguished by the qualities Donoghue sought when reading essays as a student: "elegance, grace, style." Extensive knowledge and a discerning sensibility are evident as well. The perfect book for those who want insight into American literature without pedantry. Richard Kuczkowski, Dir., Continuing Education, Dominican Coll., Blauvelt, N.Y.
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