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Kazin, Alfred : Writing Was Everything

Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1995

ISBN 0674962370

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 152 pages. Collection of literary/memoir essays. Now considered a late-modern classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original by a University Press. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Alfred Kazin's "Writing Was Everything". Delivered as the William E. Massey Sr Lectures in the History of American Civilization. Consists of a Prologue and three pieces: "Before The War", "During The War", and "After The War". A summing-up of a great and noble life, not without its mischiefs and adventures, devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of literature. More than any other literary scholar and critic, Alfred Kazin made it his lifework to read and write about American literature, producing at least three masterpieces on the subject: "On Native Grounds", published when he was an astonishing 25 years old and prodigious in its breadth, erudition, and insight; "An American Procession", published at the peak of his career; and "God And The American Writer", his last book, published at the end of his life. This little book distills everything he thinks and believes about the long pilgrimage he has undertaken: A deft blend of autobiography, history, and criticism, Kazin shows how great writing matters and how it involves us morally, socially, and personally at the deepest level. It is also an immensely entertaining reminiscence of the writer's colorful life. It is strange that many people think writers live dull lives. On the contrary, they have the most fun, even the most solitary and reclusive ones. Kazin's encounters with such figures as Hart Crane, Allen Ginsberg, Simone Weil, Flannery O' Connor, Hannah Arendt, Robert Lowell, Edmund Wilson, George Orwell, Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, and John Cheever, to name just some of the most celebrated figures, make for absorbing reading. "Literature is not theory. At its best, it is the value we can give to our experience, which in our century has been and remains beyond the imagination of Mankind" (Alfred Kazin). An absolute "must-have" title for Alfred Kazin collectors. This title is a classic. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ALFRED KAZIN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0674962370.

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