IN PRAISE OF MINOR AUTHORS

Abstract

J.D. Brown. Henry Miller. New York: Ungar, 1986. xi + 147 pp. David Castronovo. Thornton Wilder. New York: Ungar, 1986. xi + 174 pp. Christopher C. Dahl. Louis Auchincloss. New York: Ungar, 1986. xi + 276 pp. Barbara C. Ewell. Kate Chopin. New York: Ungar, 1986. xvi + 216 pp. Edward Wagenknecht. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: His Poetry and Prose. New York: Ungar, 1986. v + 266 pp. General literary studies of the sort published by Ungar and Twayne are par- ticularly useful in the case of minor authors, providing sometimes the only available overview of the life and work of significant writers. Set against the more specific, thesis-driven studies that make up much of contemporary literary criticism, the Ungar and Twayne books provide a potentially more open and eclectic approach towards literary figures than is often found.