Erskine Caldwell and the Fiction of Poverty: The Flesh and the Spirit FROM THE PUBLISHER
This study of Erskine Caldwell is the first comprehensive investigation of all the novels, short stories, and nonfiction of this intriguing southern writer. Once considered in France to be one of the 'big five, ' along with Faulkner, Dos Passos, Hemingway, and Steinbeck, Caldwell was praised and honored throughout Europe, the Soviet Union, and Japan during the first half of this century. But in his native land, and especially in his native South, he was more often an object of embarrassment, controversy, and, ultimately, neglect. Sylvia Jenkins Cook considers the sources of Caldwell's fame and disrepute by examining his simultaneous attraction to what was most ludicrous, vulgar, and irrational in human nature and what was most cruel and unjust in human society.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
Contributions are grouped into five parts covering psychoanalysis and personality theory; group theory and ethnic relations; attitude theory and prejudice; methods in psychological research on antisemitism; and combatting prejudice. This is the second of five volumes projected for the With particular attention to his role as a chronicler of poverty in America, this study presents a chronological analysis of Caldwell's prolific writings, examining his personal isolation, the evolution of his style, his critical response to public reception, and continuing merits of his work. Paper edition (unseen), $16.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)