Edith Wharton: The Uncollected Critical Writings

The widespread reurgence of interest in Edith Wharton's career since the 1970s has restored to print most of her fiction, travel books and writings on architecture, gardening and interior decoration. However, her numerous exercises in literary criticism have been overlooked. Never before collected into one volume, this book contains Wharton's literary criticism writings. The writings cover works of various literary traditions, including general considerations of fiction and criticism and embracing novels, verse, and works by other critics of literature, art and architecture. An introductory essay places Wharton's critical prose in the context of her career as a whole and draws on many unpublished materials in exploring the incertainties and inhibitions against which she had to struggle in order to express herself.

Review :
"An impressive collection of individual gems as well as confirming evidence of an impressive critical intelligence. Mr. Wegener has done us all a great service."---James W. Tuttleton, Washington Times. "Despite her astute critical mind, feelings of intellectual unworthiness made Wharton reluctant to publish her opinions. [This] well-researched book. . .gathers these intermittent writings (including some previously uncollected) [and contains] her superb considerations of George Eliot and Henry James."---Renee Tursi, New York Times Book Review "Wharton may have written relatively little criticism, but she always tried to take the largest possible view of culture in general and literature in particular. Her aim was to enunciate as best she could the soundest and most enduring principles for judging the merit of any work of art and to apply them thoroughly and fairly."---Merle Rubin, Christian Science Monitor "This collection shows that she is due a place in the developing history of women's critical writing and that her views of other writers are worth knowing. . . . The introduction is the best reason for graduate research libraries to add this volume to their Wharton holdings." "Frederick Wegener's introduction is, in itself, a substantial contribution to Wharton scholarship: it serves as a well-focused lens for viewing the essays he has edited so meticulously."---Julie Olin-Ammentorp, Edith Wharton Review "Wharton aficionados will drink in every carefully chosen word and beautifully crafted sentence, but everyone interested in literature will find much to savor here." "In this fascinating collection of Wharton's critical prose, Wegener demonstrates that Wharton was a far better critic than she realized, and one only regrets, after reading these works, that she was not more prolific in that arena. Wegener's introduction to this collection benefits from being scholarly, readable and cogent."