This study of the novels of Nathanael West begins with the important threads of Wests life and their relationship to his works. James F. Light gives a detailed analysis of each of Wests novels, investigating in particular the works treatment of social criticism and manipulation of dream and symbol.
Lionel Trilling was one of the twentieth centurys most widely read and influential American literary critics. Mark Krupnick traces Trillings career from the 1920s through the 1970s, following the shifting intellectual and ideological currents in his thought. Krupnick places Trillings criticism and fiction in the context of his New York...