Contemporary American Literature Part 21

Were You Ever a Child? 1919. (Education.) The Angel Intrudes, a Play in One Act. 1918.

Moon-Calf. 1920. Novel.

The Briary Bush. 1921. (Novel.) Sweet and Twenty. 1921. (Comedy in One Act.)

STUDIES AND REVIEWS

Bookm. 53 ('21); 245.

Freeman, 2 ('21); 403.

Nation, 111 ('20): 670.

New Repub. 25 ('20): 49; 29 ('21): 78.

See also _Book Review Digest_, 1919, 1920, 1921.

+Babette Deutsch (Mrs. Avrahm Yarmolinsky)+--poet, critic.

Born in New York City, 1895. A.B., Barnard, 1917. Later, worked at the School for Social Research. She attracted attention by her first volume of poems, _Banners_, 1919.

STUDIES AND REVIEWS

Poetry, 15 ('19): 166.

See also _Book Review Digest_, 1921.

+John (Roderigo) Dos Pa.s.sos+--novelist.

Mr. Dos Pa.s.sos' presentation (_Three Soldiers_) of the experiences of privates in the U.S. Army during the War roused violent discussion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

One Man's Initiation. 1917. 1920.

Three Soldiers. 1921.

Rosinante to the Road Again. 1921.

STUDIES AND REVIEWS

Bookm. 54 ('21): 393.

Cur. Op. 71 ('21): 624 (portrait).

Dial, 71 ('21): 606.

Freeman, 4 ('21): 282.

Lit. Digest, 71 ('21): 29 (portrait).

Lond. Mercury, 5 ('22): 319.

See also _Book Review Digest_, 1921.

+Theodore Dreiser+--novelist, dramatist.

Born at Terre Haute, Indiana, 1871, of German ancestry. Educated in the public schools of Warsaw, Indiana, and at the University of Indiana.

Newspaper work in Chicago and St. Louis, 1892-5. Editor of _Every Month_ (literary and musical magazine), 1895-8. Editorial positions on _McClure's_, _Century_, _Cosmopolitan_, and various other magazines, finally becoming editor-in-chief of the b.u.t.terick Publications (_Delineator_, _Designer_, _New Idea_, _English Delineator_), 1907-10.

Organized the National Child Rescue Campaign, 1907.

SUGGESTIONS FOR READING

1. As Mr. Dreiser is considered by many critics the novelist of biggest stature as yet produced by America, the nature and sources of his strength and of his weakness deserve careful a.n.a.lysis. Observe (1) that his att.i.tude toward life and his general method derive from Zola; (2) that his materials are drawn from his extensive and varied experience as a journalist; (3) that these two facts are exemplified in brief in his biographical studies, _Twelve Men_, which are "human doc.u.ments."

2. Note the dates of _Sister Carrie_ and of _Jennie Gerhardt_, and work out Dreiser's loss and gain during the long period of silence between them.

3. _Hey, Rub-a-Dub-Dub_ (cf. _Nation_, 109 ['19]: 278) should be read by every student of Dreiser, for its revelation of his att.i.tude toward humanity, which contributes largely to the greatness of his work, and of his failure to think out a point of view, which is a fundamental weakness. Note his admission: "I am one of those curious persons who cannot make up their minds about anything."

4. With what types of material does Mr. Dreiser succeed best? Why?

5. Discuss Mr. Dreiser's style in connection with the following topics: (1) economy; (2) realism; (3) suggestion; (4) taste; (5) rhythmic beauty.

What deeply rooted defect is suggested by the following description of the Woolworth Building in New York:--"lifts its defiant spear of clay into the very maw of heaven"?

6. How far does Mr. Dreiser represent American life? Do you think his work will be for some time the best that we can do in literature?

7. Read Mr. Van Doren's article (listed below) for suggestion of other points for discussion. The following pa.s.sage is especially significant:

Not the incurable awkwardness of his style nor his occasional merciless verbosity nor his too frequent interpositions of crude argument can destroy the effect which he produces at his best--that of a n.o.ble spirit brooding over a world which in spite of many condemnations he deeply, somberly loves. Something peasantlike in his genius may blind him a little to the finer shades of character and set him astray in his reports of cultivated society. His conscience about telling the plain truth may suffer at times from a dogmatic tolerance which refuses to draw lines between good and evil or between beautiful and ugly or between wise and foolish. But he gains, on the whole, more than he loses by the magnitude of his cosmic philosophizing.... From somewhere sound accents of an authority not sufficiently explained by the mere accuracy of his versions of life. Though it may indeed be difficult for a thinker of the widest views to contract himself to the dimensions needed for realistic art, and though he may often fail when he attempts it, when he does succeed he has the opportunity, which the mere worldling lacks, of enn.o.bling his art with some of the great lights of the poets.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

*Sister Carrie. 1900.

*Jennie Gerhardt. 1911.

The Financier. 1912.

A Traveller at Forty. 1913. (Travel sketches.) The t.i.tan. 1914.

The Genius. 1915.

Plays of the Natural and the Supernatural. 1916.

A Hoosier Holiday. 1916. (Travel sketches.) Free and Other Stories. 1918.

The Hand of the Potter. 1918. (Tragedy.) Twelve Men. 1919. (Biographical studies.) Hey-rub-a-dub-dub. 1920.

A Book about Myself. 1922.

STUDIES AND REVIEWS

Mencken, H.L., Prefaces.

Sherman, Stuart P., On Contemporary Literature, 1917.

Acad. 85 ('13): 133. (Frank Harris.) Bookm. 34 ('11): 221 (portrait); 38 ('14): 673; 53 ('21): 27 (portrait).

Cur. Lit. 53 ('12): 696 (portrait).

Cur. Op. 62 ('17): 344 (portrait); 63 ('17): 191; 66 ('19): 175.

Dial, 62 ('17): 343, 507.