From Publishers Weekly
These wide-ranging letters, most appearing in print for the first time, reveal Edmund Wilson more sympathetically than his egocentric journals. Culling from 70,000 letters written between 1917 and 1971, Wilson scholars Castronovo and Groth have arranged this edition first by theme such as his WWI experience, his literary friendships, his marriages, his publishing dealings with Charles Scribner, William Shawn and Roger Straus, and his upstate New York life and then by his regular correspondents, including Allen Tate, John Dos Passos, Dawn Powell, Lionell Trilling and Morton Zabel. This structure makes Wilson's life seem even more compartmentalized than it was. Famous as he was for his insatiable intellect, he was also known for periodic enthusiasms: European and Russian literature, Civil War and Iroquois history, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and his own fiction. These enthusiasms spring up unexpectedly throughout; for example, Wilson describes reading to his young son from Uncle Tom's Cabin, which would later catalyze his study Patriotic Gore. Otherwise, there are diverting sprinklings of writing to Isaiah Berlin, Cyril Connolly, John Berryman and even, unexpectedly, Edward Gorey. Conspicuous in their absences, however, are the central figures of fellow Princetonian F. Scott Fitzgerald, his lover Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Vladimir Nabokov (although the complete correspondence between Wilson and the latter was collected in one volume); and in general there are relatively few letters from the 1920s and '30s. Nonetheless, Wilson is on display here not simply as the opinionated literary lion but more familiarly as son, friend, husband and parent, showing more charm and sympathy than he did in the bombastic Letters from Literature and Politics. (Jan.) Forecast: Scholars and students of American literature will certainly want to round out their view of Wilson with these letters. This should sell steadily.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This volume of correspondence emphasizes the personal side of American critic and essayist Wilson (1895-1972). It supplements the 1977 collection, Letters on Literature and Politics, 1912-1972, which was edited by Wilson's widow, Elena, and which focused on his professional concerns. Castronovo (Edmund Wilson Revisited) and Groth (Edmund Wilson: A Critic for Our Time) have divided the text into eight sections: letters to Wilson's parents regarding World War I, letters to friends, correspondence with his last two wives, letters to his three children, an epistolary romance with Clelia Carroll, exchanges with publishers, a "grab bag" on various topics, and letters on his rural home at Talcottville, NY. The editors have written introductions to each section as well as explanatory footnotes for a number of the letters. A portrait emerges of a prolific author who not only cared deeply about literature and social issues but who also was a son, husband, father, colleague, and friend. Not all of the letters make fascinating reading, but for those who admire Wilson this volume is essential. Recommended for upper-level academic libraries, especially those that own the 1977 collection. (Index not seen.) Morris A. Hounion, New York City Technical Coll. Lib., Brooklyn Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Among the major writers of the Hemingway and Fitzgerald generation, Edmund Wilson defied categorization. He wrote essays, stories and novels, cultural criticism, and contemporary chronicles, as well as journals and thousands of letters about the literary life and his own private world. Here for the first time in print is Wilson's personal correspondence to his parents, lovers and wives, children, literary comrades, and friends from the different corners of his life. Various writers and thinkers -- including Lionel Trilling, Cyril Connolly, and Isaiah Berlin -- take their places alongside upstate New York neighbors in this gallery of letters that extends from the teens to the early 1970s. These letters complete the picture of Wilson the man, offering unguarded moments and flinty opinions that enrich our understanding of a complex and troubled personality. Four times married and many times in love; traveling through Depression America, the USSR, postwar Europe, the Middle East, and Haiti; and writing on a Balzacian scale, Wilson as a correspondent reveals the exhilaration and chaos of being himself. Arranged by correspondent and moving through the phases of his career, Edmund Wilson, the Man in Letters constitutes an exemplary autobiography cum cultural history. The writing itself is vintage Wilson -- a blending of classical and conversational styles that stands as part of the modern American canon and is filled with the emotions and tastes of a master.

SYNOPSIS

Aficionados of the American literary critic Wilson may find many of these letters disenchantingly trivial, dealing with baby's new tooth, or begging funds for his son. There are many letters that make some reference to Wilson's work, however, including some correspondence with other writers, including Stephen Spender, Mary McCarthy and Lionel Trilling. Castronovo (English, Pace U., New York City) and Groth (emeritus, English, State U. of New York, Plattsburgh) selected this collection of Wilson's personal letters to supplement the 1977 volume of Wilson's letters on literature and politics. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

These wide-ranging letters, most appearing in print for the first time, reveal Edmund Wilson more sympathetically than his egocentric journals. Culling from 70,000 letters written between 1917 and 1971, Wilson scholars Castronovo and Groth have arranged this edition first by theme such as his WWI experience, his literary friendships, his marriages, his publishing dealings with Charles Scribner, William Shawn and Roger Straus, and his upstate New York life and then by his regular correspondents, including Allen Tate, John Dos Passos, Dawn Powell, Lionell Trilling and Morton Zabel. This structure makes Wilson's life seem even more compartmentalized than it was. Famous as he was for his insatiable intellect, he was also known for periodic enthusiasms: European and Russian literature, Civil War and Iroquois history, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and his own fiction. These enthusiasms spring up unexpectedly throughout; for example, Wilson describes reading to his young son from Uncle Tom's Cabin, which would later catalyze his study Patriotic Gore. Otherwise, there are diverting sprinklings of writing to Isaiah Berlin, Cyril Connolly, John Berryman and even, unexpectedly, Edward Gorey. Conspicuous in their absences, however, are the central figures of fellow Princetonian F. Scott Fitzgerald, his lover Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Vladimir Nabokov (although the complete correspondence between Wilson and the latter was collected in one volume); and in general there are relatively few letters from the 1920s and '30s. Nonetheless, Wilson is on display here not simply as the opinionated literary lion but more familiarly as son, friend, husband and parent, showing more charm and sympathy than he did in the bombastic Letters from Literature and Politics. (Jan.) Forecast: Scholars and students of American literature will certainly want to round out their view of Wilson with these letters. This should sell steadily. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal