James A. Schiff

Sheds light on signature aspects of Price's writing

5 x 7, 150 pages
cloth, ISBN 1-57003-126-6, $34.95s

Understanding Contemporary American Literature, Matthew J. Bruccoli, series editor

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the first critical analysis of Reynolds Price's writings to appear in more than a decade, James A. Schiff traces the development of one of America's most esteemed writers from the publication in 1962 of his award-winning first novel, A Long and Happy Life, to the arrival in 1995 of the long-awaited third volume of his Mayfield trilogy, The Promise of Rest. Demonstrating how literary trends have often run counter to Price's career, Schiff argues that Price has remained committed to a personal vision unlike that of any contemporary American writer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James A. Schiff teaches at the University of Cincinnati and is author of Updike's Version: Rewriting "The Scarlet Letter."

REVIEWS

"Knowledgeable, comprehensive, and highly readable, this promises to remain the book on Price for years to come, appealing both to scholars and the general reader."—Jefferson Humphries, editor of Conversations with Reynolds Price.

"Jim Schiff is our best critic of America's most difficult novelists—not Pynchon and Gaddis—but Price and Updike, whose works demand that we remember gods have spoken to women and men."—Tom LeClair, author of The Art of Excess