Definitions: Essays in Contemporary Criticism [First Series]

A series of informal critical essays seeks to define modern literary practice by opening a range of interpretive doors rather than enforcing a single thesis. The writer examines American fiction and sentimentality, the national tradition and its younger generation, the ethics of reviewing, popular literary tastes, and problems of poetic and prosaic dilettantism. Interspersed are close readings of individual authors and proposals for a more sympathetic, discerning criticism that confronts sentimentalizing, evasive plotting, and superficial popularity while encouraging deeper appreciation and clearer standards.