From Publishers Weekly
With wordsmithery and an alma mater in common, the authors in Bright Pages: Yale Writers, 1701-2001 cover genres and topics ranging from an essay on a generation's guilt over evading the Vietnam draft (Christopher Buckley), to a poem about Sara Baartman, the so-called Hottentot Venus (Elizabeth Alexander), to a book excerpt about the experiences of several survivors of Hiroshima (John Hersey), to scenes from a play about a young woman's encounters with the opposite sex at the height of hippiedom (Wendy Wasserstein). Compiled by poet J.D. McClatchy (On Wings of Song), editor of the Yale Review, this far-ranging anthology will make the New Haven crowd proud. Boola boola. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
This is an anthology of 81 writers who have been formed and influenced by their experiences at Yale University. As Yale Review editor McClatchy notes in his introduction, these diverse authors use what they learned at the college to illuminate the truths of humanity. The collection is divided into three parts, with Part 2 (which includes writers such as Peter Matthiessen, Tom Wolfe, and Calvin Trillin, who began their work after World War II) being the longest. The other two sections highlight John Hersey, Robert Stone, John Hollander, and Robert Penn Warren (all of whom taught writing at Yale) and authors from the university's 18th-century beginning up to the early 21th century. Poems, short stories, excerpts from novels and nonfiction works, selections from plays, and even a Doonesbury comic strip show the diversity of the writers chosen, while McClatchy's introduction to each author focuses on the influence of Yale on that individual's literary growth. Recommended for medium to large public libraries. Morris Hounion, New York City Technical Coll. Lib., Brooklyn Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

College years -- when ideas collide, literature intrigues and inspires, lasting passions are first fired -- can stamp a young writer for life. This extraordinary book contains the work of dozens of writers whose experiences at Yale over the past three centuries exerted a powerful force on their writing lives. Formed and nurtured by the unique intellectual community of the university, writers as diverse as Noah Webster and Gloria Naylor emerged from Yale to make their own fresh contributions to our nation's remarkable literary heritage.

From the galaxy of authors Yale has produced, J. D. McClatchy selects a rich and varied sample. He includes sermons, essays, poems, short stories, and excerpts from novels. The book opens with a section devoted to the work of four great teachers of writing at Yale in recent decades: John Hersey, Robert Penn Warren, John Hollander, and Robert Stone. The middle and most generous section of the volume focuses on writers who have been working since the end of the Second World War. Each of these selections casts a strong light on its author and his or her work. In the final section, McClatchy draws on the work of earlier literary figures from James Fenimore Cooper to Thornton Wilder, in many cases retrieving little-known material.

A stroll through the pages of this bountiful anthology, dazzling in the diversity of its offerings, will appeal to any reader. Each of the authors was challenged and inspired by Yale. In this volume, each in turn challenges and inspires us.

Among the authors and poets in this volume: Jonathan Edwards, Sinclair Lewis, Cole Porter, Robert Penn Warren, Brendan Gill, Robert K. Massie, William F. Buckley, Jr., Calvin Trillin, Paul Monette, Garry B. Trudeau, Claire Messud, Chang-rae Lee

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This far-ranging anthology will make the New Haven crowd proud. Boola boola.

Publishers Weekly

With wordsmithery and an alma mater in common, the authors in Bright Pages: Yale Writers, 1701-2001 cover genres and topics ranging from an essay on a generation's guilt over evading the Vietnam draft (Christopher Buckley), to a poem about Sara Baartman, the so-called Hottentot Venus (Elizabeth Alexander), to a book excerpt about the experiences of several survivors of Hiroshima (John Hersey), to scenes from a play about a young woman's encounters with the opposite sex at the height of hippiedom (Wendy Wasserstein). Compiled by poet J.D. McClatchy (On Wings of Song), editor of the Yale Review, this far-ranging anthology will make the New Haven crowd proud. Boola boola. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This is an anthology of 81 writers who have been formed and influenced by their experiences at Yale University. As Yale Review editor McClatchy notes in his introduction, these diverse authors use what they learned at the college to illuminate the truths of humanity. The collection is divided into three parts, with Part 2 (which includes writers such as Peter Matthiessen, Tom Wolfe, and Calvin Trillin, who began their work after World War II) being the longest. The other two sections highlight John Hersey, Robert Stone, John Hollander, and Robert Penn Warren (all of whom taught writing at Yale) and authors from the university's 18th-century beginning up to the early 21th century. Poems, short stories, excerpts from novels and nonfiction works, selections from plays, and even a Doonesbury comic strip show the diversity of the writers chosen, while McClatchy's introduction to each author focuses on the influence of Yale on that individual's literary growth. Recommended for medium to large public libraries. Morris Hounion, New York City Technical Coll. Lib., Brooklyn Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

ACCREDITATION