Research Catalog

Title

In the American grain : essays / by William Carlos Williams ; introduction by Rick Moody ; afterword by Horace Gregory.

Author

Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963

Publication

• New York : New Directions, ©2009.
• ©2009

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Moody, Rick
• Gregory, Horace, 1898-1982

Description

xvi, 246 pages; 21 cm

Summary

"Although admired by D.H. Lawrence, this modern classic went generally unnoticed during the years after its publication in 1925. Yet it is "a fundamental book, essential if one proposes to come to terms with American literature" (London Times Literary Supplement). William Carlos Williams was not a historian, but he was fascinated by the texture of American history. Beginning with Columbus's discovery of the Indies and moving on through Sir Walter Raleigh, Cotton Mather, Daniel Boone, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Aaron Burr, Edgar Allan Poe, and Abraham Lincoln, Williams found in the fabric of familiar episodes new shades of meaning and configurations of character. He brought a poetic imagination to the task of reconstructing a live tradition for Americans, and what results is one of the finest works of prose to have been penned by any writer of the twentieth century."--Publisher's website.

Subject

• History
• Histoire
• history (discipline)

Genre/Form

• History
• Publishers' advertisements.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Red Eric -- The discovery of the Indies -- The destruction of Tenochtitlan -- The fountain of eternal youth -- De Soto and the new world -- Sir Walter Raleigh -- Voyage of the Mayflower -- The founding of Quebec -- The May-Pole at Merry Mount -- Cotton Mather's wonders of the invisible world -- Père Sebastian Rasles -- The discovery of Kentucky -- George Washington -- Poor Richard -- Battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis -- Jacataqua -- The virtue of history -- Advent of the slaves -- Descent -- Edgar Allan Poe -- Abraham Lincoln.

ISBN

• 9780811218498
• 081121849X

LCCN

2009019930

OCLC

• 317919476
• SCSB-12111348

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library