Book description
Essays discuss nineteenth and twentieth century American literature, from Henry Adams to Zora Neale Hurston
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
1 author picked Required Reading as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book showed me how engaging, intellectual history can be written. It’s never enough to present information. If you respect your readers, as Delbanco does, keep them entertained. These twelve essays mix the personal, literary, and social in a lively and often surprising, frothy brew. I also like the way Delbanco makes the distant past relevant for today’s world.
Individual sentences are a delight. You’ll leave the book knowing much more about the life, times, and work of writers like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edith Wharton, and Richard Wright.
From Marc's list on The best books on American intellectual history.
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